Refugees in Dublin will today have only a telephone number to assist them in finding shelter and obtaining welfare payments.
This follows the closing of the Refugee Application Centre in Lower Mount Street because of a dispute between the Eastern Health Board, which runs the centre, and IMPACT, the main union representing staff.
The Department of Justice said last night that it would continue to process asylum applications, but it could not guarantee accommodation, which is handled by the EHB.
A number of people slept outside the Mount Street building last night, saying they had nowhere else to go.
Emergency measures will be put in place today, including a freephone number for refugees to call, which will be posted outside the building. An alternative premises for the centre is being sought.
The 11 employees and four relief workers employed at the application centre closed the office yesterday, saying that the numbers of applicants were too great for the building and staff to handle safely. They called for staff numbers to be at least doubled.
IMPACT representatives and EHB management are to meet today. An IMPACT official, Mr Sean McHugh, said: "We hope to hear realistic proposals that will mean safe and efficient services for asylum-seekers and a safe place of work for staff."
A statement from the union said that there would be "no direct services" at the Mount Street facility today.
Last night, an inter-departmental committee met, chaired by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue. The committee comprises the Departments of Justice, Health, Social Welfare, Environment, Finance and the EHB. Each department has responsibility for some aspect of the wellbeing of refugees, with Justice being primarily responsible for the processing of asylum applications.
A spokesman for the Minister for Justice said last night that processing of refugee applications would continue at the Mount Street centre today.
The inter-departmental committee instructed the Office of Public Works and the EHB to find an alternative premises for those refugees who are "repeat callers".
The Department of the Environment will be in contact with local authorities throughout the State today to ask them to make urgent assessments of the approximately 3,000 accommodation offers which have been received in response to advertisements placed in newspapers.