Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman said he was assessing the concerns of Co Kildare residents about proposed modular homes planned for Ukrainian refugees in Newbridge and Rathangan, but has not ruled out their construction.
Residents in Newbridge were left with the impression, following a meeting with the Minister last Friday, that the construction of 30 modular homes planned for Lakeside Park for Ukrainian refugees was being postponed pending a full assessment by the Office of Public Works.
Local residents at the Beechgrove Estate in Rathangan were also told by the Minister at a another meeting on Monday that no construction of 30 additional modular homes would begin until inspections are carried out amid resident concerns about the strain on services in the area.
Mr O’Gorman told reporters at the Department of Health on Thursday that he had informed residents’ groups that he, his department and the OPW would “look carefully” at their concerns and see if there were “ways in which we can appropriately address those concerns”.
“What I said was nothing will be built on those sites until we have been able to address those concerns,” he said at a launch of an unrelated initiative at the department.
Mr O’Gorman said “very genuine concerns” were raised and they were being looked at, and that the department would respond to both groups when it had established whether the sites were actually viable or not.
The Government has approved 500 modular homes as part of its plans to house some of the tens of thousands of refugees who have come to Ireland fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The first modular homes are due to be installed from November in a roll-out managed by the OPW with a two-phase construction due to be completed by the spring of next year.
The Co Kildare residents have complained they were not consulted by the Government about the 60 modular homes being built to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
A local residents group in Newbridge has said demand for local services such as schools, doctors and dentists was already running over capacity and the area around the proposed site for the modular homes has a history of flooding.
“I can’t see anyone getting around those issues. The site is unsuitable,” said Tom McDonnell, a spokesman for the residents’ association, Lakeside Park/Highfield/Dara Park Action Group.
Mr McDonnell said he was awaiting a written response from the Minister about the matter.
“We have had consultation with the Minister and the OPW. We want to move it forward and we want to put the matter to bed,” he said.
A spokesman for Mr O’Gorman’s department said the Minister had listened to the concerns of the residents during the two meetings and outlined the “emergency context under which the Government had approved the use of modular units”.
