The Office of Public Works has started work on two more sites in the Midlands which are to house asylum seekers. Up to 100 mobile homes will accommodate refugees on the Department of Defence owned sites in Kildare and Athlone, and that up to 50 mobile homes will accommodate refugees at the site at Ballymullen in Tralee.
As the construction work begins on land, the government decision to use flotels for asylum seekers remains controversial. Denmark, an EU country of similar size and population to Ireland, has abandoned the practise.
At a meeting today, the Port of Waterford Company is understood to have discussed the possibility of a flotel for asylum seekers being berthed in the city. The Department of Justice recently asked the company to quote a price for a temporary berthing facility at the port. Protesters outside today's meeting said refugees should be welcomed here and not put into what they called floating prisons.
