Leo Varadkar says there will be arrests over arson attacks on asylum-seeker accommodation

“There are a number of Garda investigations under way. There have been people questioned and searches have been carried out,” Mr Varadkar said.

The Taoiseach said arson is a serious crime which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

He said that if such attacks are motivated by hatred towards certain groups of society, even tougher sentences can apply.

He said that attacks against someone with migrant status would not be included in upcoming hate-crime legislation, but that racism would apply.

Mr Varadkar said he remains concerned that someone could be killed in an arson attack on a building that is due to accommodate asylum seekers.

I’ve a real worry that an arson attack might occur in a building that has somebody inside it. 

"People who are carrying out these attacks just don’t know that for sure and I’m really fearful that a tragedy like that will happen,” Mr Varadkar said.

In recent months, there have been a string of arson attacks on buildings due to hold asylum seekers, including in Longford earlier this week.

Mr Varadkar said he remains concerned about protests taking place outside asylum-seeker accommodation.

There can often be a tendency in any society, not just in Ireland, to target people who are different. 

"It might be because of their nationality, their race, their gender, because they’re members of the Travelling community, because they live their lives in a certain way,” Mr Varadkar said.

“I think those of us who are in the centre ground of politics and those of us who believe in honest politics have a responsibility to push back against some of the myths and against some of the ideas that are put about that try to divide people and try to say that other people are different from us and therefore it’s ok to mistreat them or even engage in violence against them.”

Mr Varadkar disagreed with assertions that the climate in Ireland had changed, though he did accept there is “rising concern” about migration in the country.

“Some of that is understandable and legitimate concerns. That shouldn’t be dismissed,” Mr Varadkar said.

“In some cases it's not, in some cases there’s an element of racism to it, quite frankly.”

However, he admitted that the issue has been “rising for quite some time”, saying that it hadn’t changed in Ireland overnight.

“I don’t think by any means Ireland is a racist country. The vast majority of people in Ireland are willing to judge people by the content of their character, to see them as individuals not as a group," he said.