"Rogue" asylum-seekers should be "kicked out" of Ireland, a Fianna Fail back-bench TD has said. Mr Ivor Callely said it was "time to call a halt" to the spending of £50 million of taxpayers' money on asylum-seekers. "Spending on this has gone out of control. This is a misuse of funds," he said. But the Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, said Mr Callely was making blanket statements. Asylum-seekers were soft targets who had no one else to speak out for them.

It was "deeply ironic" to hear Irish politicians complaining about so-called economic refugees when Ireland had such a tradition of exporting refugees from poverty, unemployment and starvation.

Many elderly people had worked all their lives, and contributed hugely to the Exchequer, Mr Callely said. Yet then they found they were denied the benefits of this or were put on a waiting list for items such as a medical card, a hip replacement or fuel allowance.

"All of a sudden, they see these people coming into the community and being given a comfortable house and generous allowances."

Mr Callely, a TD for Dublin North Central, claimed "any Tom, Dick or Harry" could become an asylum-seeker and claim benefits for the two or three years it took the Department of Justice to process applications.

"It's about time this bloody thing was examined and a mechanism put in place to deal with the abuse." In other countries, asylum-seekers who arrived with no documentation were returned to wherever they had come from. He was unable to say which countries this occurred in.

Refugees were "carrying on in a culture that is not akin to Irish culture", he added.

Asked what he meant by this, Mr Callely mentioned begging from neighbours and the "bleeding of lambs in the back garden".

Asked whether he had had any reports of the latter practice, Mr Callely said he had not. "However, it has been brought to my attention."