Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that he does not believe there are enough Gardaí on the streets of Dublin to deal with protests aimed at asylum seekers.
He made the comments just days after a makeshift campsite at Sandwith Street in Dublin city centre was set alight on Friday evening.
The sleeping bags, beds and belongings of international protection seekers who have been unable to secure accommodation were badly damaged during the blaze.
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Speaking in Limerick on Monday afternoon, the Taoiseach said that he was "shocked and horrified" by the scenes.
He said: "Whatever people's views are about immigration or asylum seekers or anything like that, these are human beings.
"No human being should be treated in the way that people were treated with those protests and the fires the other night. I condemn it unreservedly."
Mr Varadkar said that Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is involved in the investigation into the incident so that gardaí can "find who's responsible and make sure they're brought to justice so they can't harm anybody else".
When asked if he believed there were enough gardaí on the streets of Dublin to tackle future similar incidents, Mr Varadkar said he did not believe there were.
He said: "That’s why we've provided funding in the Budget for this year to recruit an additional 1,000 gardaí.
"That will be more than enough to cover retirements and resignations. We are seeing the number of gardaí increase again, over 14,000 guards now. We're going to try and head for 15,000. We're hiring more garda staff as well."
He also said that he is concerned about similar protests happening again.
Mr Varadkar continued: "I am worried about it. We've seen these kinds of things happen in other countries. Ireland is a normal country.
"Ireland is a country like any other country, there is always going to be an element of people who have far-right views or racist views and an element of people who will turn to violence.
"I think we as a society have to reject that unequivocally.
"No human being should be burdened, or attacked or have to face this kind of hatred.
"No matter where they're from or what their backstory is."
Earlier on Monday, Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman confirmed that he would meet with the Garda Commissioner and Justice Minister Simon Harris to discuss the protests that took place last weekend.
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that he had met with Gardaí at Pearse Street Garda Station both before and after the protests.
One man was arrested following the incident which has been widely condemned across the political spectrum.
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