Public representatives in Tramore, Co Waterford, are to seek a meeting with State agencies over the number of asylum-seekers living in the town.
Doctors' surgeries are "creaking at the seams", and local people are unable to get accommodation because of the large number of asylum-seekers in the area, members of the Tramore Town Council said yesterday.
They claimed a commitment by the Department of Justice two years ago to limit the number of asylum-seekers in the town had not been kept. The Department denies such a commitment was given.
The council is to ask representatives of both the South Eastern Health Board and the Reception and Integration Agency, which operates under the aegis of the Department, to attend a special meeting on the issue.
Mr Blaise O'Hannigan, a Fianna Fáil member of the council, said officials from the Department had promised two years ago that no more than 93 asylum-seekers would be accommodated in the town.
"We have about three times that number now and we haven't got enough accommodation in the town for the locals," he said. "I know eight couples who have come to me three or four times in the past six months trying to get accommodation, but it's not available."
Another council member, Mr Ben Gavin of Fianna Fáil, said people felt "a little bit intimidated" by the numbers of asylum-seekers in the town.
Mr Gavin said people were also concerned about what would happen in May when the tourism season began.
"There are supposed to be a lot of people coming down from Mosney. Are these asylum-seekers allowed to move willy-nilly around the country wherever they want, and whenever they want?" he asked.
"These are the questions that are all floating around and the longer they float around the more legs they gather, and people get fears and get resentments and it all builds up," he said.
The South Eastern Health Board said 100 asylum-seekers were living in direct-provision accommodation in Tramore at the end of November, and 275 in private accommodation, occupying 108 flats or apartments.
A Department of Justice spokeswoman said it was not possible for the Reception and Integration Agency to give commitments on limiting asylum-seeker numbers in any area. The dispersal policy was applied in a balanced manner.
