A second state-owned asylum seeker accommodation centre in Kerry has been evacuated after a pest infestation was discovered at the facility, forcing around 80 residents to be moved out.
The Johnston Marina IPAS centre on the outskirts of Tralee was cleared after the infestation was identified, with those affected including families and single women who had been living at the site. The International Protection Accommodation Service, known as IPAS, confirmed the evacuation and said arrangements were being made to rehouse the displaced residents.
This is the second time in recent weeks that an IPAS centre in Kerry has had to be evacuated for the same reason, raising serious questions about the standard of state-provided accommodation for asylum seekers in the county. The back-to-back incidents have put a spotlight on how these centres are being managed and maintained.
Local representatives have been vocal about the situation, with concerns being raised about both the welfare of the people being moved and the broader issue of oversight when it comes to accommodation provided under the IPAS system. Families with children are among those who have had to pack up and leave at short notice, which has caused significant disruption.
IPAS has been under pressure for some time over accommodation standards across the country as Ireland continues to deal with a significant increase in the number of people seeking international protection. The system has been stretched, with the state relying on a mix of purpose-built centres, hotels, and other repurposed buildings to house applicants while their cases are processed.
Pest infestations in shared accommodation settings are not uncommon, but two evacuations in the same county within such a short timeframe has prompted calls for a full review of inspection procedures at IPAS-managed properties. Critics argue that regular, thorough checks should be catching these problems before they reach a point where entire buildings need to be cleared out.
The residents moved from Johnston Marina are understood to have been transferred to alternative IPAS accommodation, though the precise locations have not been publicly confirmed. For many of those affected, the disruption adds to an already stressful situation as they wait for decisions on their protection applications.
Kerry has seen a significant amount of attention around asylum seeker accommodation over the past couple of years, with debates at local council level and among community groups about how new arrivals are being supported and integrated. Incidents like this evacuation do little to ease tensions or build confidence in how the system is being run.
The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which oversees IPAS, has not yet made a detailed public statement about what specifically caused the infestation or what steps are being taken to remediate the Johnston Marina site before any residents return.
For now, the focus is on ensuring the 80 or so people who were living at the centre have suitable alternative accommodation and that their cases and support needs are not disrupted by the move.
absolute joke isn’t it, these people have already been through enough and now they’re being moved around because nobody can sort out a basic pest problem. sort it out lads