I put on record that for nearly four decades, I have been providing accommodation to all sectors of society, including in the past couple of years, to Ukrainian families fleeing the war. I speak today on a subject that has risen its head very much in the past weeks in the town of Killarney, which is the fact that 77 international protection applicants were to be located on the Muckross Road, a mainly tourist and residential area. At yesterday's full council meeting, a resolution put forward by Councillor Niall O'Callaghan was passed asking that the Minister would meet with a group from the town. I am glad it has been organised by the Minister that people from his Department will meet representatives from this area, but what this highlights is the fact that the cart has been put before the horse. What we need in situations like this is consultation ahead of time and not, for example, what happened in this case. What happened in this case is county councillors, TDs and Senators all were notified after the deal was done. I would like confirmation on whether the Taoiseach or the Minister can clarify if an actual contract has been put in place with that particular property. In other words, before meeting with these people at all, can we be told on the floor of Dáil Éireann whether this is a done deal? Is the meeting coming as we were informed, too little too late, or what is the contractual situation between the owner of the properly or company operating it and the Department dealing with these international protection applicants?

It is important that we protect what I would call the tourism product in Killarney. Do not get me wrong, Killarney town has risen - as has County Kerry and the rest of the country - to the challenge that has befallen us. It would be very wrong and unfair for anybody to point their finger and say it was the Taoiseach's fault. He did not invade Ukraine. We were left with the situation in which we are but we have to raise questions about the number of people who travel from and jump other countries to come here as international protection applicants seeking protection in this State. Why are we so attractive as opposed to everywhere else? The business people who marched last Saturday were not a group of people who were angry or outraged for the sake of it. These were residents from the Muckross Road and from the housing estates around it and employers from the town, who attended a public meeting. It was what I would call a town hall-style meeting. It was a very respectful and sound meeting chaired by two former local representatives and it was held very properly. A number of things were raised at this meeting. Questions were raised for the Minister as to why Killarney was being put in this situation.

I thank the Deputy. At the outset, I recognise that very many communities across the country, including in County Kerry, have accepted and even welcomed large numbers of Ukrainians and international protection applicants in the past few years. With respect to the Harmony Inn in Kingscourt, Killarney, the Minister has met the Kerry TDs, the mayors of Kerry and of Killarney, and the chief executive of Kerry County Council. I think that meeting may have been about two weeks ago. The community engagement team in the Department of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, is engaging with elected representatives in Kerry and will continue to do so. It is also happy to engage with representatives of local residents. I understand that a contract is now in place but I do not know the details of that. I appreciate that Kerry now has approximately 685 international protection applicants living in the county. As roughly 3% of the population, that is approximately 3% of international protection applicants, but I appreciate there may be particular places within Kerry where the number is high and that this has an impact on local services and the local economy. We understand people's concerns in that regard. For this reason, the Government is putting in place a scheme to help small business. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, is currently developing that €250 million scheme to help all businesses with increased costs. Separate to that, the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is developing a dedicated scheme through Fáilte Ireland to help businesses where their footfall has been affected by the fact that a large proportion of tourist beds have been taken out of the system in order to accommodate people seeking refuge from abroad.

I thank the Taoiseach for being factual in telling us that the contract is in place because there was uncertainty about that. What that tells me is that officials now meeting with public representatives - be they councillors, TDs or the local residents - is actually a waste of time because the deal is done and the people are going into that property according to what the Taoiseach is just after saying. What I am asking him is how right is it to do that in this way with no consultation with the local councillors or residents' associations who are so worried?

There is a very elderly lady living right next door to this property who is very worried about the change that this is going to have on her property. Young couples in the surrounding estates, and middle-aged and older people who have paid off their mortgages, are very fearful about this. That is why engagement is so important. The Taoiseach is saying that we are going to have engagement but we are having engagement after the contract has been put in place. I think that is the wrong way to do our business. That is not the right way to engage with communities and that is not the way to bring communities with us.

If the place is wrong and if Killarney town is full, I believe that the Department should recognise that in the interests of protecting local jobs in our community and the tourism product that people have worked on for over 100 years. There are families steeped in the tradition of hospitality and now they feel their businesses are being put in danger because of this.

As I mentioned in my earlier reply, a community engagement team has been established. It is engaging directly with elected representatives, relevant local authorities, the local development companies and other entities and individuals. The purpose of the community engagement team is to improve the flow of information regarding arrivals into areas and to help equip local communities with information required to help them understand the current situation and to assist with the welcome and integration process for new arrivals. The team is there to hear people's concerns and to respond to them. People will have reasonable concerns about the impact on services like healthcare and education, issues around safety in some cases and the impact on the local economy. The whole role of that community engagement team is to give people information, to dispel misinformation and to listen to genuine concerns that people have when a large number of people move into their town. That is the whole idea around engagement.

I know Deputy Healy-Rae is not saying otherwise, but I should say that nobody has a right of veto to say who lives near them, beside them, or in their town or village. I do not. Deputy Healy-Rae does not. I know he is not calling for it. It is not the case that community engagement is about seeking permission from communities as to whether people are going to move into the area; it is about information, dispelling misinformation and responding to genuine worries about services, safety and the local economy.