I wish to raise with the Taoiseach the recent influx of Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers and the impact they may have on the tourism sector in County Kerry. Many are living in hotels in Killarney, Tralee, Ballybunion and other places. It is estimated that there are more than 6,000 in the county now, with almost 4,000 housed in hotels and guest houses in Killarney. Our town of Killarney is at capacity. If we are to look after our own people and the refugees and the asylum seekers who are already here properly, it is clear that we cannot accommodate any more at this time. Our medical services, GPs and social welfare officers are under immense pressure. Come the middle of February 2023, what alternative accommodation does the Government have in mind for the massive number of refugees who are housed in our hotels and guest houses at present? The children who have come here have been integrated into our schools.

Our tourism product and our hospitality business in Kerry depend so much on these hotels to provide accommodation for tourists. They are the vital cog in the wheel that keeps the industry going. It is vital for employment for people in craft shops, souvenir shops, tea and coffee shops, confectionery shops, bus and coach tour operators, taxi and hackney operators, jarveys in Killarney and the Gap of Dunloe, the boatmen, the big entertainment venues, such as the INEC and Siamsa Tíre in Tralee, small rural pubs that provide music and entertainment, storytelling and culture and tell visitors about traditions, and our entertainers and musicians. All our visitor attractions depend so much on hotel accommodation being available. We have places like Killarney House and Gardens, Muckross House Gardens and Traditional Farms, the national park, our wonderful visitor centres in Ballinskelligs and Dingle and many other attractions.

The Taoiseach has spoken about building modular homes. Where will they be built? Will modular homes be built for our people? We must look after our own. Some people have been on the housing list in Killarney for up to 16 years. We want to treat the Ukrainian people properly but we do not want to treat them better than our own people. We need to look after our own people. We need to realise that the businesses I have mentioned are only barely back on their feet after being closed down for two years. What are the Government's plans. How is the Government going to address the accommodation centre for Ukrainians in Killarney after the middle of February?

I appreciate the Deputy raising this important issue. However, we are in a war situation on the Continent of Europe. These are not normal times. An illegal and immoral war is being waged by Russia on Ukraine. That war is being carried out in a manner that targets civilians. Putin is weaponising migration, energy and food. This has caused significant economic upheaval. About 14 million people have been displaced. It is the worst humanitarian crisis on the Continent of Europe since the Second World War. I understand that 7 million of those people are internally displaced in Ukraine and the other 7 million have fled the war and moved across Europe. People are very fearful. In the latest phase of the war, Putin has decided to target critical energy infrastructure in order to try to freeze the inhabitants of Ukraine during winter, thereby making life unlivable for them and causing them to flee. It is a deliberate war tactic.

As a nation, we must have some moral values. The entirety of Europe has to hold its nerve and stand up to this. We must not allow ourselves to become fractious or split from each other in terms of rebutting what is happening.

To me, what is going on is unthinkable, as is the manner in which Russia is targeting the war. It has consequences. I think up to 63,000 and maybe more Ukrainians have now come into the country. I want to thank the people across the length and breadth of the country, including in Kerry and the Deputy is correct in saying the numbers have been particularly high in Kerry, who have welcomed people into their communities and who have worked very hard to make Ukrainians feel at home. I do not think the vast majority of Irish people see it as our own versus the Ukrainians who came in. Rather, they see it as a matter of what we can do to help.

It is challenging for many communities, of that there is no doubt. For our schools and in many areas, it is challenging. I pay tribute to many principals across the country, to boards of management and to teachers who brought Ukrainians into their schools and who are working to help those Ukrainians navigate education in this country while also continuing to access education back in Ukraine. Many Ukrainian parents are doing that with a view to the war eventually ending and they can be in a position to bring their families back and to reunite with their families.

We have a whole range of plans. We have started rapid build housing for Ukrainian families. We hope to do 700 by early next year. We will also now do rapid build housing for social housing in Ireland. Advanced manufacturing technology, which is the term in construction technology and is off-site manufacturing, can assist in more rapid construction of housing. That is something we need to embrace more strongly in the country. Given the wider issues that exist in the area of housing we need to build more and at a more rapid place.

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply, but he did not answer me the question. Yes, we are in a war situation. I recognise that and everyone recognises that and we feel for the Ukrainian people. But we have an industry in Killarney that has taken generations to build up. Many hotels are taken up with refugees at the present time.

I asked the Taoiseach a straight, honest question. How will he deal with the refugees who are supposed to leave those hotels by the end of February? What accommodation has he arranged for them at the end of February? I told him that so many aspects of our tourism sector have only barely started back on their feet again this year. It has been a bare few months. Surely, they should not have to lose out or be compromised because the hotels are not free. They are already taking ye to court for moving them from one hotel to someplace in Wicklow to someplace in Monaghan. Will they leave the hotels? Will the owners of those hotels now want to let them go? The Taoiseach has not answered my important question.

I answered quite a number of the questions that the Deputy raised in respect of rapid builds and so forth. As I have said, my strong answer is that we are in a wartime situation. That is why so much hotel capacity has been made available to take people, including women and children, who are fleeing war. That is why. There is no easy solution to this, but we have managed it so far. There has been an extraordinary response by the country and the sheer numbers are unprecedented. We will work as we have worked since the beginning of the war to continue to accommodate the people who come in as best as we can. It is very difficult and challenging and it will remain challenging until this war is over.

We are reconfiguring a number of public buildings that are not quite reconfigured yet to take additional numbers. As I said, we are also looking at rapid build to try to accelerate that and to get higher numbers. We are continuing to work with the many people who have made their facilities available. However, we are one of the few economies in Europe that is still growing. The war is having an economic impact and there is no escaping that. This Government was very supportive of the tourism industry during Covid-19, and it has acknowledged that, but we are in a wartime situation that casts significant shadows and clouds over the economic sky of Europe and that will remain so until this war is over.