The number of foreign national households on the housing waiting list has climbed to 6,224, according to latest official figures.
This figure now represents about 15 per cent of the estimated 44,000 people on housing waiting lists.
Fingal County Council has the largest number of foreign nationals in need of housing, with 800 EU and non-EU citizens on the list, according to a national needs assessment carried out by the Department of the Environment.
Fine Gael, meanwhile, has expressed concern that the Government has no way of checking whether foreign nationals on the State's housing waiting lists have a genuine housing need.
Waterford TD John Deasy said that, while local authorities were able to check land registry records to determine whether housing applicants from the Republic or the UK already owned a property, they did not extend these checks to other countries.
"I have no issue whatsoever with foreign nationals applying for housing. This is about meeting the genuine housing needs of Irish and foreign nationals," he said. "However, it's been pointed out to me by housing officers in local authorities that they have no way of checking if foreign national applicants - outside of the UK - already own properties."
Mr Deasy said he was aware that local authority officials had found evidence of abuse of the system by Irish and British nationals who applied for housing but already owned a property.
A spokesman for the Minister for the Environment was unable to say whether such checks were being carried out on foreign national applicants for housing.
However, he said both Irish and foreign nationals faced the same assessment criteria in determining their housing need, including the availability of alternative accommodation; family circumstances; age; and residency.
Mr Deasy said a system should be established to liaise with countries outside the Republic and the UK to determine if applicants already owned properties.