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Additional reports: Aoife Moore
The central heating system at the Kerry direct supply center, where at least 25 people have tested positive for Covid-19, has been in poor condition since last December.
The Skellig Star hotel in the city of Caherciveen, South Kerry, has been at the center of a major coronavirus outbreak in the past month. At least 95 asylum seekers were accommodated at the hotel on March 18 and at least a quarter have tested positive for the virus.
Several children were among those who arrived at the hotel from Dublin.
As a result of the lack of heating, up to 50 independent oil heaters had to be obtained at Tralee, 40 miles away.
In a statement, the Justice Department said there was a problem with the boiler at the hotel the day the asylum seekers arrived.
That is actually inaccurate. The boiler system incident occurred on December 28, two and a half months before asylum seekers arrived. That night, a fire truck attended the scene and the heating system has been out of service ever since.
A subsequent response did not address a request for clarity regarding the Department’s understanding of when the heating system failed.
The Irish examiner also learned that an elevator engineering company is demanding to know why one of its engineers was incorrectly told that Covid 19 was not present at the hotel while attending routine service.
Shannon-based Kone Engineering has written to the hotel noting that its engineer made sure three times that the virus was not present at the hotel before performing a service on April 19. Upon leaving the premises, a garda told him that there were six confirmed cases at the hotel. Later it became known that the first four positive cases were confirmed on April 14.
The company wrote that its engineer is now unable to carry out his duties anywhere else because he worked in a location where the virus was present and that Kone relies on open and honest comments from its customers.
The positive asylum seekers were transferred to another location in Cork. Those who remain have displayed signs saying they want to be removed from the hotel as soon as possible as it is not suitable accommodation.
In response to a question about whether the hotel was audited for its suitability as a direct supply hub before signing contracts, a Department spokesman said a senior official “visited the facility as part of the evaluation conducted.”
In a subsequent response, the Department said this official visited on September 25, 2019 and “identified a modern commercial kitchen and dining areas with all en-suite rooms.”
The Irish examiner has established that the visit did not include an audit to determine how many people could be accommodated in each room. This was done by another official shortly after the asylum seekers had already moved.
There were no consultations with the local community before the opening. The reason given by the Justice Department for the sudden arrival of 105 asylum seekers in the city was that it was an emergency response to the coronavirus. Asylum seekers were transferred from the Dublin metropolitan area less than 24 hours in advance.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris confirmed that 160 health workers here currently reside on Direct Supply.
Harris added: “When we thank the frontline workers, we should remember those 160.” I want to thank you, because some people do not extend a military service to people from other countries. “There have been 164 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in residential Provision Direct facilities.
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