A new asylum seeker tent encampment has sprung up on Dublin’s Grand Canal.

More than 30 new tents have been erected between Mount Street Bridge and Huband Bridge in the city centre.

Taoiseach Simon Harris says officials will try to move them on as soon as possible.

"Any fair analysis of the situation would point to the fact that is in marked contrast to what had been allowed to happen on Mount Street," he said.

"There's a very big difference between something that is allowed to go on and on and on for months and months and a situation where people find themselves in something for a very short period of time while being moved on to more suitable accommodation."

Encampment

The location of the encampment is less than 400 metres from the International Protection Office.

It is the same area that saw dozens of tents removed in a major operation earlier this Summer.

Tents erected along Dublin’s Grand Canal. Image: Barry Whyte/Newstalk

Steel barriers were then erected along the canal banks in a bid to stop more tents being erected; however, the latest tents have been pitched inside the fencing.

Over the weekend, demonstrators gathered outside the Department of Integration protesting against the ‘obscenely cruel’ fencing.

The ‘Take Back Our Spaces’ coalition has described the steel fencing as “hostile” and is demanding its removal.

Tents erected along Dublin’s Grand Canal. Image: Barry Whyte/Newstalk

The fencing, which runs from Grand Canal Street to Portobello, is costing Waterways Ireland €30,000 per week to maintain.

Last week meanwhile, residents living along the canal accused the Government of ‘abandoning the capital to chaos’ – warning that authorities have had more than enough time to find a better solution than steel barriers.

“The State has now abandoned thousands of asylum seekers in tents on our streets and just walked away,” South Georgian Core Residents Association Chair Kevin Byrne told Newstalk.

“[Authorities] aren’t taking responsibility for the chaos it is creating.”

There are currently 2,511 male asylum seekers without an offer of State accommodation, according to the Department of Integration.