Volunteers feeding the homeless may have helped save the life of a pregnant woman in Dublin last night.

Inner City Helping Homeless come across an unconscious young woman on O'Connell Bridge who was one of 154 people sleeping rough on the streets.

It is the highest ever homeless figure recorded by the group.

Inner City Helping Homeless is now calling for action to deal with the crisis.

It comes as a housing summit take places in Dublin today to establish short term solutions to the current housing shortfall.

The summit seeks to discuss the current housing position in Ireland and help to establish short-term solutions.

ICHH Spokesman Aiden Bolton was one of the volunteers who helped the woman.

Meanwhile the CEO of ALONE Sean Moynihan - who is also attending the conference - says the group has seen a dramatic increase in the number of older people coming to them for housing in recent times.

"Yesterday we were allocating one of our smaller studio apartments and the feeling of utter desperation among the applicants was palpable".

"These older people, aged between 62 and 88, were all desperate to get the place. We are hearing that because of their age and the fact they are on rent supplement they are being totally locked out of the private rental sector, leaving many with simply nowhere to go" he added.

The Housing Minister says she is "very concerned" about the number of people sleeping rough in Dublin.

Minister Jan O'Sullivan says the government is working to tackle the issue.