Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for being factual in telling us that the contract is in place because there was uncertainty about that. What that tells me is that officials now meeting with public representatives - be they councillors, TDs or the local residents - is actually a waste of time because the deal is done and the people are going into that property according to what the Taoiseach is just after saying. What I am asking him is how right is it to do that in this way with no consultation with the local councillors or residents' associations who are so worried?

There is a very elderly lady living right next door to this property who is very worried about the change that this is going to have on her property. Young couples in the surrounding estates, and middle-aged and older people who have paid off their mortgages, are very fearful about this. That is why engagement is so important. The Taoiseach is saying that we are going to have engagement but we are having engagement after the contract has been put in place. I think that is the wrong way to do our business. That is not the right way to engage with communities and that is not the way to bring communities with us.

If the place is wrong and if Killarney town is full, I believe that the Department should recognise that in the interests of protecting local jobs in our community and the tourism product that people have worked on for over 100 years. There are families steeped in the tradition of hospitality and now they feel their businesses are being put in danger because of this.

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