Gordon Deegan
A County Kerry guesthouse operated by a firm owned by independent Kerry TD, Michael Healy-Rae has received €658,770 (all figures incl VAT) for accommodating Ukrainians to date, new figures show.
New quarterly figures published by the Dept of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth show that Deputy Healy Rae’s Rosemount Guest House received €114,680 between July 1st and the end of September and this is in addition to the €544,090 the outspoken TD’s guesthouse in Tralee has received in the prior three quarters from the department for accommodating Ukrainians.
Last year, Kerry Co Council refused planning permission to Deputy Healy Rae’s Roughty Properties Ltd's application for a three-storey extension to expand guest capacity at Rosemount Guest House.
The €114,680 paid out to Deputy Healy Rae’s Rosemount was part of a €320 million paid out by the State to accommodation providers accommodating Ukrainians between July 1st and the end of September last.
In addition, the State paid €168 million to firms accommodating International Protection (IP) applicants during the same three-month period.
The pay-out of €320m to accommodate Ukrainians brings to a total of €868.97 million in accommodating Ukrainians for the first nine months of last year.
The total bill for accommodating IP applicants for the first nine months is €469m after taking into account the €168 million spent between July 1st and the end of September.
The combined bill for accommodating Ukrainians and IP applicants is €1.33 billion for the January 1st to September 30th period.
The detailed figures show that the owner of the country’s largest hotel, Citywest, Cape Wrath Hotel UC in west Dublin, received €24 million for the third quarter in accommodating Ukrainians and IP applicants and brings to €53.7 million it has received for the first nine months of 2023.
Cape Wrath Hotel UC is part of the Tetrarch Capital group and the €24 million is made up of €22.8 million for providing accommodation to Ukrainians while it received an additional €1.2 million in accommodating IP applicants for the third quarter.
The figures show that Tirawley Ltd trading at Breaffy House Resort in Co Mayo received €6 million in the third quarter for accommodating Ukrainians and IP applicants.
The figures also show a company controlled by former Monaghan GAA football manager, Seamus ‘Banty’ McEnaney, Brimwood UC received €5.68 million for the third quarter which brings total payments for the first nine months to €28.78m for housing Ukrainians and IP applicants.
Brimwood UC has unlimited company status and is not required to file annual accounts with the Companies Office showing the level of profit it enjoys.
The figures show that Travelodge Hotels has received €5.5m for housing IP applicants for the third quarter and this brings to €21.65m the hotel business has received in the first nine months of 2023.
The housing of IP applicants at Magowna House at Inch in Co Clare was a flashpoint last year when locals erected blockades on local roads.
The new figures show that the operator of the centre for IP applicants at Magowna House, Cork firm CRM Properties Ltd received €5.9m for housing Ukrainians and IP applicants in the third quarter made up of €5.4m for accommodating Ukrainians and €427,800 for accommodating IP applicants.
Heronwell Ltd - established by Lucan businessman, Derek Scully - was incorporated on January 25th 2022 and in 2022 received €9m from the State for accommodating Ukrainian refugees.
Accounts show that the business proposed to pay out a dividend of €3.9m to shareholders from the 2022 profits.
The new figures show that the firm received €6.7m in the third quarter of this year for accommodating Ukrainians.
The figure also show that Dublin firm, Winward Management Ltd received €7.4m for accommodating Ukrainians in the third quarter.
The figures also show that Mosney Holidays plc received €6m for accommodating IP applicants. Security firm Allpro Security Services received payments of €7.9m for the third quarter.
