While young men wrapped in blankets are the most visible of the homeless people who sleep rough in Dublin, they are a minority of the 275 counted in the survey.
One-in-five are under 20 years of age - a fact which the Homeless Initiative's director, Ms Mary Higgins, sees as "cause for concern" in itself - but a majority (160 and mainly men) are aged 65 or over.
The report says that sleeping rough is not solely a matter of having nowhere to go - many who sleep rough are dependent on drugs or alcohol and this would need to be addressed if they are to be helped to stay off the street.
One man in his 50s, with experience of sleeping rough and in hostels, told The Irish Times that people who are barred from hostels for misbehaviour while under the influence of drugs or alcohol are left with no alternative but the streets.
He recalls sleeping rough in the 1980s when there were more empty buildings than there are now and when buildings were less likely to be monitored by security companies. Increased security and fewer buildings mean fewer places to sleep. He also recalls sleeping in unlocked cars left overnight in Smithfield by garage owners.
One man who is sleeping rough at present says he has been sleeping outside for many of the years since he left Letterfrack Industrial School in the 1950s. He drinks heavily and sleeps "wherever I fall".
He takes care to arm himself with a "pole" to ward off any attackers who may want to rob him. He says drug addicts have made the streets increasingly dangerous. One attempt to rob him ended when he put his would-be assailant through a window.
As he speaks he returns again and again to his experiences in Letterfrack, of being raped and seeing other children raped by Christian Brothers. At one stage he stops speaking to cry.
His situation is an example of Mary Higgins' point that for many people sleeping rough, their problems run deeper than a lack of accommodation.