Minister for Children Kathrine Zappone is to meet with front-line agencies today as part of efforts to help the more than 2,000 children who are currently homeless.

It is understood representatives from Barnardos, the ISPCC and Focus Ireland will be among the delegation holding talks at the Department of Children and Youth Affairs this morning.

The Minister told Newstalk Breakfast that she has prioritised finding ways to support children who are homeless or in emergency accommodation since she took office. She said she is working with Minister for Housing Simon Coveney on the housing strategy with specific emphasis on children's needs.

“I can confirm as Children’s Minister that there is going to be a section of this plan where we are going to look at very practical things.

“Already the front-line agencies have said one of the problems is that the kids oftentimes end up in hotels where they are far away from the schools they have been attending — so the issue of transport is going to be key.

“Other times their families aren’t going to be able to cook meals for them — what can we do about that? Some children have additional needs because of disability, or actually because they’ve left home because of an issue of domestic violence.”

She added that she’s hoping to develop a series of ‘concrete and costed’ supports to meet the children’s concerns and needs in the short term.