Mattie McGrath demands meeting over Dundrum hotel placements
Mattie McGrath criticised the minister’s handling of international protection placements and demanded a meeting with a deputation from Dundrum. He said local communities in Tipperary have been damaged by placements and accused the minister of refusing to meet residents after hundreds were placed in the village.
Call for a meeting
McGrath asked the minister to meet a deputation of Dundrum residents and business owners, including those connected to Dundrum House Hotel. He said locals are decent people who want to be listened to and respected, not intimidated, and insisted they have been treated like second-class citizens.
Local impact and hotel closures
He said hotels and businesses in Tipperary have been affected, naming Rosgrave, Rocket Hall, Hens Hotel in Clonmel and Dundrum House Hotel as examples of properties lost or impacted by placements. McGrath said the scale of placements has overwhelmed small communities.
Numbers and funding concerns
McGrath cited the scale of placements in Dundrum, saying 286 IPAS people were put into a village of 200, and raised concerns about guarantees and costs mentioned in the debate, including figures given as 28,000 and 26,000 euro.
Government response and engagement efforts
The Taoiseach met local representatives Andrea Crowe and Nora O'Dwyer briefly in Clonmel but, McGrath said, provided no answers. The minister responded that open accommodation has been offered nationwide as part of the emergency response and that a community engagement team has been established and engaged with Dundrum residents and with McGrath on multiple occasions.
Comparison with previous occupants
The minister noted there were 280 Ukrainians previously living in the location and that those families are now replaced by 280 international protection applicants. He said that when Ukrainians lived there the community offered strong support and expressed confidence that similar support can be achieved for the international protection families.
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I wish you wouldn't minister as leader of the Green Party, but I do have serious concerns about your attitude and your behaviour to host communities where IPAS symptoms are opening. We've now lost three hotels in Tipperary, Rosgrave, Rocket Hall, and indeed Hens Hotel in Clonmel and Dundrum House Hotel. You refuse steadfastly to meet the people of Dundrum, putting in 286 IPAS people in a village of 200 people. The Taoiseach met Andrea Crowe and indeed Nora O'Dwyer, two local people, briefly in Clonmel recently. He said he'd come back to him with answers. There are no answers. The people there are decent people. No sitting as far right or any intimidation or anything else, but they want to be listened to and they want to be respected as good living people. Not forced decisions and you hiding won't meet them. I'm asking you now, will you meet a deputation of the people of Dundrum, the village, the lovely famed village and Dundrum House Hotel and good business people. A wonderful place and they've been treated like second class citizens and they're not being helped. And they said, of course, a guarantee that costs 28,000, 200 guarantee costs 26,000 euro a morning. So like the seat is Dundrum. And that's the way to treat ordinary people. We live in a democracy, I want to remind you. Minister, please. Thanks very much, Deputy. And as you know, as part of our emergency response to both needs of Ukrainians and international protection applicants, we have offered open accommodation all over the country and many times this accommodation is welcomed by the local communities and sometimes there are questions, sometimes there are tensions. And that's why I set up a community engagement team within my department. And I know the community engagement team have engaged with residents from Dundrum. I know they've engaged with you on many occasions, on many individual properties. And that's the best way to manage and the best way to understand what are the local issues. And we have to be very clear here. There were 280 Ukrainians living in that location. Now there are 280 international protection applicants. Again, families just like it was previously. And I know when Ukrainians were living there, there was great support from the people of Dundrum. And I've no doubt working together, we can ensure a similar level of support for the international protection families. Deputy Michael.
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