Kerry County Council has asked the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to reconsider a decision to accommodate a further 70 asylum seekers in Killarney,
Councillors and TDs had been told by the department that around 70 males seeking international protection were due to arrive in the Co Kerry town and would be accommodated in the Harmony Inn trading as the Kingscourt Inn on the Muckross Road.
The 22-bedroom refurbished hotel would provide "temporary shelter" for the applicants with the length of stay not possible to say, according to an email from the department's community engagement team.
The department said that the residents arriving at the Kingscourt Inn would be able to access healthcare through mainstream primary care, general practitioners and emergency services and will be entitled to a medical card.
English language classes would also be made available, representatives were told.
However, director of services with Kerry County Council Niamh O'Sullivan has told the department that the town's GP and other services including English language support are "at capacity".
The HSE had also told the department that it has no additional GP capacity in Killarney, Ms O'Sullivan said.
There are a total of 8,938 Ukrainian people living in Co Kerry, Ms O'Sullivan said in a letter to the department.
"This is the largest number of any local authority in the country and the largest amount of any local authority setting outside of Dublin.
"Killarney Local Election Area (LEA) is the second-highest LEA in the country, hosting 2,443 Ukrainians with the top three LEAs all being in Kerry," she wrote.
In addition, Kerry Education and Training Board has advised that English language support classes are at capacity in Killarney and this has also been communicated to the department, she wrote.
"As has already been stated, access to support services, especially in terms access to health and education, remains a critical priority for accommodation provision for refugees in Kerry and considering this, we would ask the department to reconsider their proposal until such time as the necessary additional capacity for support services are in place," she added.
Earlier, a local councillor and hotelier said that Killarney has "done its fair share" when it comes to accommodating asylum seekers and refugees.
Councillor Niall O'Callaghan said the impact on tourism in Killarney was already severe with a lot of accommodation already under contract to the Government to house refugees.
Mr O’Callaghan said up to 40% of the town centre’s tourist accommodation was now being occupied.
He added: "We have done our fair share. Now we are hurting in the tourist business."
