Pointed Dáil exchanges as Opposition claims anti-migrant anger 'rooted in housing and healthcare crises'

Richard Boyd Barrett said that stand up to the far right would be "hell of a lot easier" if the Government "started to deal with the land speculators and the land hoarders who sit on vacant properties".

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told a Dáil debate on the provision of services for refugees: 'We will turn nobody away'. Picture: Damien Storan

Unscrupulous individuals and groups are "preying on legitimate concerns and weaponising them to inspire fear and hatred" of migrants, the Taoiseach has told the Dáil.

Leo Varadkar, who was speaking during a session on the provision of services for refugees on Thursday, said that others are using the current challenges to "promote their party or even their ideology".