Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two issues. The Abbey Manor Hotel in Dromahair in County Leitrim received some international protection applicants in recent months. More have come in the past week. The families have been accepted by everyone and I have every confidence that they will be integrated into the community, but the problem that arises wherever people arrive is one of ensuring we have adequate medical, transport and education services. Wherever applicants arrive, these are the services that are placed under pressure, so we need to ensure there are adequate services. I appeal to the Taoiseach to do that.

On the flip side, the Lough Allen Hotel and Spa in Drumshanbo, which is just down the road from the Abbey Manor Hotel, has Ukrainians living in it. There have been more than 300 people there for the past two years. The Ukrainian contract for that hotel will run out at the end of this month. The Ukrainians have been told that they all must leave. Many of these people are in schools or working locally and have integrated into the community. They are now going around trying to find somewhere to live. Like everyone else, though, they cannot find accommodation. By opening the doors and telling these families they have to leave the hotel and go into emergency provision somewhere, we are creating a serious problem. They are working for many employers. Will they end up in Cork, Dublin or somewhere else where they will put pressure on the accommodation situation? There is a great short-sightedness in closing accommodation that has been working well, thereby putting pressure on our housing system, which is already under serious pressure.

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