Independent Councillor for Tallaght South Patrick (Paddy) Holohan has said plans he has seen to develop a disused property in Tallaght village into an accommodation centre for asylum seekers look “like a bee’s nest”.
Speaking to Gript, Holohan said that the plan to turn St. John’s House into an asylum centre was “the worst kept secret” in the area despite a significant amount of time having elapsed before confirmation of the plans was given by the Department of Integration.
The Department of Integration confirmed to Gript on Monday that they are considering an offer in respect of the property saying, “IPAS is responding to an offer of accommodation made in respect of this property.”
“A full assessment of the property will need to be carried out by IPAS when works are completed by the owner. If a contract is agreed, it is hoped that this property can be brought into use. Local public representatives have been informed of this.” it said.
A query as to the number of prospective occupants of the building remains unanswered.
Holohan said that despite what he says were repeated denials by the owner of the building that it had been offered to the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) he had managed to obtain the plans.
He said the plans contain eight beds per room and consist of approximately 20 rooms with a kitchen/dining area and bathrooms/showers etc.
Regarding the existing influx of asylum seekers in the Tallaght area, Holohan said that, according to information he had requested from South Dublin County Council, 8/10 hotels in the area were being used as IPAS accommodation and that this has resulted in a situation where people wishing to stay in the area have “nowhere” to go.
“People can’t come to Tallaght, there’s nowhere to stay,” he said.
He said the number of asylum seekers/Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection from Ukraine was in the region of 3,000 – 4,000 currently, questioning the practicality of a tourism initiative planned for the area in circumstances where so much of the local accommodation is being used by IPAS.
He said that the loss of the City West Hotel as a public amenity has had a serious effect on the local community who had often used the hotel for functions such as Irish dancing, boxing tournaments, and as a convention centre.
He said that the emergency planning in place has dictated that if the Ukrainians currently housed in the complex were to leave, the hotel is already “earmarked” as accommodation for international protection applicants and would not return to its former use while the current state exists.
“I imagine any of the businesses there would have suffered from the drop in tourism,” he said.
He questioned how the government’s plan to “end homelessness” in the country through the HAP scheme was working citing a recent report which found that there were only 38 HAP properties in the country while there are people who keep calling on the state to accept “more refugees”.
“HAP is the way to get people out of homelessness, homeless centres are full and spilling over at the brim,” he said, adding that a lot of the homeless hubs in Dublin had “massive drug problems”.
He said that his primary school aged daughter had asked him to help her school friend, saying that he “doesn’t have a bed.”
When Holohan asked his daughter why the child did not have a bed he said she answered, “because he doesn’t have a house.”
Holohan said that out of control rental prices and scarcity had forced the child’s mother into a homeless hub on Gardiner Street where he said there were “drugs at the door”.
He said that the woman is employed in Tallaght hospital full-time and is currently travelling in and out to her work place while caring for her young son.
He said he had been trying to source local accommodation for the woman but that there is “nothing”.
“There are properties that are going for €20,000 per month if you put in ‘rent a house’ on daft.ie”
“There’s no €1,200 there’s no €2,500” he said, adding that HAP payments were only €1,900 and could not be used towards higher rents.
“They have so many people fighting for resources to pay their mortgages with the cost of living and all of this at the same time,” he said.
“It’s madness,” he said.