There are serious concerns regarding Kerry’s ability to cater for tourists given the amount of accommodation being used to house refugees and asylum seekers.
That’s according to Independent councillor Maura Healy-Rae.
She brought a motion on the issue before the monthly meeting of Kerry County Council.
Cllr Maura Healy-Rae says thousands of bed nights and accommodation offerings have been lost in the Killarney Municipal District due to the influx of Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers that have arrived in the town in recent months.
She says we have to look to the future and says the town will be down on its accommodation offering.
Cllr Healy-Rae wants Kerry County Council to write to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the Department of Tourism to ask them to seriously look at the issue and ask how they’ll rectify it.
The Independent councillor says there needs to be a long-term plan to bring back bed nights.
Cllr Maura Healy-Rae says a lot of work will be needed, adding it should be looked at now and not when the tourism season has started up again.
He says Killarney in particular has over 4,000 people housed in hotels and guest houses, adding the county's tourism product depends on this accomodation offering.
In response, Taoiseach Micheál Martin thanked the people of Kerry who’ve welcomed refugees, saying we're in a war situation and these are not normal times.
