Western counties have taken in highest proportion of asylum seekers in Ireland, newly released figures have shown.

Since the invasion of their country, some 80,000 Ukrainians refugees have moved to Ireland and in 2022, there were an additional 13,651 international protection applicants as well. 

According to data published in the Irish Independent, a disproportionate number of asylum seekers are housed along the west coast.

In Donegal, there are 1,014 international protection applicants per 100,000 people, in Mayo, the number is 1,252 per 100,000 and in Kerry the figure is 808.

By contrast, in Kilkenny there are 151 international protection applicants per 100,000 people and in Cavan the figure is 180.

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, Deputy Healy Rae described the amount of house building in Ireland as “minimal” when compared with the increase in the national population. 

“I am not a racist,” he said.  

“I am not any type of ‘anti-person’ and I’m not an alarmist person but I’d like to think that I deal in reality and in the real world. 

“I just have to ask myself, if you take 15,000 people from that sector [international protection applicants] and bring them in every year, where in the name of holy heaven are they going to go to? 

“Because we’re not building… I know that in Kerry, we seem to be plagued with objections, so we’re not putting together new accommodation.”

Not just housing

The independent Kerry TD also said officials need to think about the “bigger picture” and make sure that communities have the infrastructure for new arrivals to live normal lives. 

“It’s not just enough to say, ‘We’ll put people in such a place,’” he said. 

“You have to say, ‘Are there services for them as well? Can they have a proper life?’

“Take our own housing list; we have thousands and thousands of people on local authority housing lists. 

“We have to ensure that where those people are located, that they can educate their children, that they’ll have local schools, that they’ll have creches and be able to go to work - which is very important.”

New build semi-detached properties.

In parts of Deputy Healy Rae’s own constituency, the population has shot up due to the arrival of so many Ukrainians. 

Despite this, he noted the Iveragh Peninsula has seen a steady reduction in the number of local GPs over the years. 

“There is a population of 8,500 people in that area,” he said. 

“One thousand of those are Ukrainian and there’s also international protection applicants. 

“So, it’s 8,500 people and we had six GPs, now it is two and we have the possibility that we might be going down to one in May of this year.” 

Final figures for house building in 2023 have not yet been released, but Tánaiste Micheál Martin has predicted it will be over 32,000 units.

Main image: Killarney.