There have been heated exchanges in the Dáil as politicians debated a motion from the Rural Independent Group that said Ireland should "stop those who come to take advantage of our generosity as asylum tourists".
It is the first time this Dáil had formally debated concern that there is too much immigration into Ireland.
The group of six TDs in the Rural Independent Group argued that there is "a chasm" between the public and the Government following "unsustainable" inward migration.
However, their motion was rejected by some members of the Opposition, who have argued that the group has been trying to take advantage of recent riots in Dublin.
The Rural Independent Group is made up of Mattie McGrath, Michael Collins, Carol Nolan, Richard O'Donoghue and brothers Michael and Danny Healy-Rae.
"Ireland's policy of voluntary return is being absurdly abused, and that's a fact," Ms Nolan asserted.
The country is being "taken for fools" and used as "a doormat", she said, and pointed to the cost of housing asylum seekers of more than €1bn between 2016 and last year.
Dismissing what she called governmental "magical thinking", Ms Nolan said that its migration policies are "reckless".
Acknowledging that migration is a "sensitive" issue, she accused the Government of "finger-wagging arrogance" and "talking down to communities", while "blatantly misrepresenting public representatives".
"Sometimes communities and people speak in the raw language of frustration," Ms Nolan said, claiming that anyone who raises a concern is painted as a "crypto far-right racist".
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns accused the Rural Independents of "putting a target on the back of migrants on asylum seekers".
"They should be ashamed of themselves," she said.
Ms Cairns also criticised the Government for creating an information vacuum, "which the far-right is happy to exploit".
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Sinn Féin's Pa Daly said "it is clear that the asylum system is failing", with private providers of direct provision "cashing in" and not consulting with local communities.
This leads to "inevitable frustration" in areas like Killarney, he noted, but warned: "Disinformation linking asylum seekers to criminality is irresponsible and unacceptable."
Labour's Aodhán Ó Riordáin condemned the Rural Independents' tactics as despicable, cowardly and debased.
"All of this is, 'Beware of the outsider. Vote for me'," he said.
Defending the Government's record, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Ireland has become "a temporary home to some of the most vulnerable people in the world".
Expressing her pride in the country's "extraordinary compassion", Minister McEntee said that the rising numbers seeking asylum is not confined to Ireland.
"We are just 1.3% of the EU total," she noted, despite it feeling that we have "more than anyone else".
Over the last year, the International Protection Office "has tripled" its output, delivering 1,000 decisions last month.
The minister promised that "at least 14,000" applications for asylum will be decided upon next year - "a further increase of almost 5,000 cases".
This year "285 removals have taken place", the minister said.
The Dáil rejected the motion without a vote because fewer than ten TDs supported it, which is the number required to call a vote.
