Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The people of Cashel in County Tipperary were bewildered last Thursday evening, as were all of us public representatives, when we got a note from the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman's Department - the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth - about a homeless hostel, which is a major plank of Tipperary County Council's effort to house homeless people. People were told they must be out by yesterday and that they must give way to house 74 international migrants, all male. A public meeting was convened by people in Cashel on Monday night which was attended by almost 600 people. Councillors from the Taoiseach's party, Declan Burgess and the long-standing councillor, Michael Fitzgerald, were at the meeting. Thankfully, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, put a pause on this last night. Our own homeless people had been displaced to get this centre ready for international asylum applicants. This is a crazy situation, and the Government is responsible for it. I am told that more than 800 applicants a week are coming here. There will be more towns like Cashel in counties all over the country. Greedy developers are coming in and making money out of this.

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