The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, has said that the growing number of people seeking asylum in Ireland, Europe and the United States is due to 'push factors'.

Speaking to the media in Washington DC as part of his week-long trip to the US for St Patrick's Day events, Varadkar noted that the number of people on the move around the world has reached 100 million. He said the reasons for this were poverty, climate change, and war.

"It's not a surprise that a very small percentage might make their way to Ireland," he said.

'Very difficult situation'

Varadkar, who leads the liberal-conservative Fine Gael party, went on to admit that even this "small percentage" was putting the Irish administration under strain.

"We're in a very difficult situation in Ireland at the moment, where we can't guarantee people accommodation if they arrive in Ireland, yet the numbers are increasing," he told the audience in Washington.

Around 200 asylum seekers are reportedly living in tents outside the International Protection Office in Dublin, and according to figures from the Department of Integration, across the country there are 1,260 international protection applicants who are waiting for accommodation.

A doctor writing to the Irish Times on Wednesday (March 13) said he had looked after many young asylum seekers who had been hospitalized "with serious medical conditions as a result of sleeping outside in the cold."

Also read: Irish government very concerned about asylum seekers sleeping in tents amid housing shortage

"This is no longer just a humanitarian crisis – it is becoming a serious public health risk," Irish Social Democrats councillor Jennifer Whitmore said Wednesday.

'Not discouraging genuine refugees'

The prime minister said the government was not "dissuading or discouraging genuine refugees who are coming to Ireland."

But, he added, it was also not true that the country was "inviting people to come."

"There’s a bit of a myth that (we are) encouraging people to come to Ireland to claim asylum or bringing them in. That's not the case," he said.

Asked if the Irish government could take any steps to deter migrants, Varadkar responded:

"I think there are things that we can do to strengthen our borders and we're doing that – much stronger controls in our airports for example."

The prime minister added that there had also been an increase in the number of people crossing the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom and thus no longer in the EU, and the Republic of Ireland.

Support for tough EU measures

Varadkar says that Ireland is working with other European countries to strengthen their external borders and prevent migrants from reaching countries like France or the UK, from where they are able to enter Ireland.

Also read: No significant deterrent effect in German migration policy changes, survey finds

He also expressed support this week for an approach put forward by the European People’s Party (EPP), to which Fine Gael belongs, to deport asylum seekers to "safe third countries."

He added that the plan – which has been likened to Britain’s Rwanda policy – would have to be done "in line with the Geneva Conventions and the European Convention on Human Rights."

But his comments prompted the Irish Refugee Council to warn: "FineGael beware: externalisation/off shore processing is an expensive and probably unlawful red herring."