On Tuesday night, a crowd gathered outside Celbridge Manor. That is where more than 100 people seeking asylum, children, women and men, live. The crowd chanted, "Paedophiles out. Deport them now. Get them out." There were threats made to burn down the building, where people live. Why? Because of a disgusting lie spread on social media by far-right agitators. The lie was that a seven-year-old girl had been raped in the hotel by three non-Irish men. It was first shared by a supporter of the Irish Freedom Party online and then amplified by far-right agitators Fergus Power and Derek Blighe and people were called to protest. It was a lie. These people do not care about the truth. They are happy to spread lies with the aim of deceiving people and whipping people up. Two weeks ago, Dr. Umar Al-Qadri, the chair of the Irish Muslim Council, was lured into a housing estate and beaten up in a racist assault. This is what a rise in the far right is going to look like - more arson attacks, more racist violence, more danger in our communities.

The vast majority of people reject this. People know that responsibility for the housing crisis, the health crisis and the deep inequality in our society lies with the Government, not with vulnerable people. That majority is represented by those who came out of their homes in Tallaght to help Dr. Al-Qadri when he was attacked and those who warned residents of Celbridge Manor arriving home from work about what was going on and helped them get back safely. That majority will be on display this Saturday when more than 130 organisations have come together to organise a solidarity march. At 1.30 p.m. at Parnell Square, thousands of people will stand together against racism, hate and war, for homes, health and rights for all, and to demand that the wealth is shared and inequality is ended. We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world but more than four in ten parents have skipped meals so their children can have enough to eat. This is a country full of vacant and derelict properties - almost 60,000 properties are long-term vacant - but where more than 4,000 children are in emergency accommodation. These are properties that should be compulsorily purchased by councils, as has finally now happened in Clondalkin.

The far-right agitators are working very consciously to direct people's anger not at those at the top of our society but against those at the bottom. I have confidence in people coming out on Saturday and making their views known, but I have a lot less confidence in the Government. What is the State going to do to protect people? Why did it take so long, more than a day, for the Garda to issue a statement debunking the dangerous lies being spread by the far right? When the far right is spreading lies about imaginary crimes, why is there not an immediate response to tell the truth to people?

I condemn without reservation the behaviour and activities of people at that location last week. It is not the first time that malicious and false rumours have been spread about people seeking international protection. We have all heard those rumours. They have been deliberately spread, falsely and wrongly. That stands to be condemned. The Garda is investigating aspects of that, I understand, in respect of false rumours but also in terms of any attack on an individual. In respect of Dr. Al-Qadri, it is shocking and I condemn it without reservation. People came to help him, as the Deputy say. I read that and it illustrates that the vast majority of Irish people have no time for violence, criminal behaviour essentially - let us not call it anything else.

That is why I do not feel it is correct or proper to juxtapose that, which the Deputy kind of did in his presentation, with economic or political issues, or issues around wealth distribution. They are fair enough issues to raise any day in this House but to juxtapose them with the violence the Deputy correctly identified and condemned, I do not quite get that. I do not accept the juxtaposition either. There are legitimate arguments to be had about the enterprise model we have in this country, with strong social protection and strong social interventions. The State intervenes a lot in Ireland to protect people, whether in housing, health or social protection. We have intervened a lot in the last two years because of the cost-of-living increase.

Our economic model is a better model than the one the Deputy advocates. I respectfully put to him that people would be in a far worse condition if they were to follow the economic model that he follows, which is anti-private enterprise. The Deputy does not believe in private enterprise or the whole concept of entrepreneurship and people developing the economy. In our view that has resulted in about 2.7 million people now at work, which is a record high level of employment in Ireland. Three quarters of the working age population is now in employment, which is at an all-time high, with unemployment at 4.2%. We added 90,000 jobs alone in the last year and I was in a position to announce 100 jobs with Infineon Technologies yesterday. Many of those jobs are with companies that are providing high-quality jobs. In the public service, there has been a dramatic, exponential increase in employment across all of the services the State provides. We are focused on that from an economic perspective. It is about that balance with an enterprise model that has generated wealth in this country and enabled us to redistribute it, particularly to protect the most vulnerable.

I do not doubt for a minute that the Tánaiste is utterly opposed to and condemns the arson attacks, racist violence, lies, misinformation and so on. I do not doubt that. I do think the Government bears a responsibility - not the same responsibility, of course, as the far right. For example, it has placed over 1,000 people who have come here seeking asylum in harm's way by putting them on the streets. That is a policy choice it has made. It created a two-tier asylum process which legitimised some of the arguments suggesting that these people are not legitimate asylum seekers. That is one level on which the Government is responsible.

The second is the real issues that affect people, the housing crisis, which gets worse day on day, the inequality and the health crisis. The Government is responsible because of the economic system and those that it represents, namely, the corporate landlords, private developers and so on. Of course, none of that justifies any racist violence or is the fault of asylum seekers. It is true, however, that the far right tries to tap into real, legitimate issues and then direct anger away from the Government and those at the top of our society towards those at the bottom. That is precisely why, on Saturday, we are marching to demand homes for all, healthcare for all and the tackling of inequality as well as to reject the racism and hatred spread by the far right.

That is shocking stuff. You condemn racism and appalling behaviour but it is the Government's fault really. That is what you are saying, Deputy, and what you want thousands to say.

The faux outrage.

You are now exploiting reprehensible behaviour as a political tool to create leverage against the Government parties. That is what the Deputy does with every issue. That is his modus operandi on every issue that comes before society. That is how he operates. It is reprehensible behaviour. The bottom line is that racists and people of the far right will look for any excuse to justify unacceptable behaviour. We need to be categoric and unequivocal. We must not mix the messages.

Take them off the streets then.

No.

The Government is putting asylum seekers on the streets. The faux outrage is a bit much.

Let us not mix the messages. There is only one message here. It is "we condemn what you do". We condemn the racists, the undermining of human beings and the undermining of the dignity of every individual that comes to this country.

Good, then protect them. Take them off the streets.

Let us not try to queer the pitch or muddy the waters, which the Deputy has tried to do.

Take them off the streets.

Deputy, please.

Everyone knows we have had an unprecedented situation with the war in Ukraine that Russia visited upon Europe. It is the first time since the Second World War and I disagree with the Deputy's views on that. Russia has done that.

The Tánaiste is way over time.

Some 100,000 people have arrived. We have had a fivefold increase in the number of people seeking asylum because of war and conflict all over the world. It is a huge pressure point all over Europe. It is not a policy choice at all, as the Deputy just sort of threw out there.

It is.

It is not.

Please, we are over time.

It is a genuine attempt by the Government to respond to the unprecedented situation we are facing with the migratory situation across the globe.

Shameful.