A berth for a "flotel" accommodating up to 400 asylum-seekers in Waterford has already been offered to the Department of Justice. This is in spite of a claim by a Junior Minister, Mr Martin Cullen, that tidal conditions make the port in his home city unsuitable for such a facility.
Mr Cullen's concerns are not shared by the Port of Waterford company, which has informed the Department that it has a suitable site for a flotel on the city's north quays.
Mr Cullen, the Minister of State for the Office of Public Works, said officials from his office have examined the site and expressed "grave reservations" given "the speed of the tide" and "the variance between low water and high water".
However, the Port of Waterford chief executive, Mr John Clancy, told The Irish Times that berthing arrangements for a flotel on a site adjacent to Rice Bridge "should not be a major problem". The Department of Justice had been quoted a price for use of the site and was to come back to the company. A final agreement would be subject to approval by the board, which meets on Friday.
He said he understood the particular flotel which the Department had in mind could accommodate between 300 and 400 people. "Basically, it's a barge with very substantial accommodation built on to it."
There is widespread opposition in Waterford to the flotel idea and opposition is gathering on two grounds.
Some say the city should take more asylum-seekers but flotels are an unwelcoming and undignified way of accommodating them. Others claim Waterford has already done enough by accepting programme refugees from Kosovo and now it was the turn of others to do their share.
Mr Tom Cunningham, a Fine Gael member of Waterford City Council, said he was opposed to flotels because "for historical reasons, the whole idea of concentrating people in a location while they're being processed sends a shiver up my spine".
He had "a very strong view" that Ireland, of all the countries in the world, should seek to accommodate displaced people "whether they arrived by legal means or not".
Workers' Party councillor Mr Davy Walsh said instead of flotels there should be "properly built accommodation, even if it's pre-fabs in the short-term", for asylum-seekers.
He said we were living in a multi-cultural society and people from elsewhere had "a serious part to play in the life of our country".
However, one businessman who asked not to be named said there was "unease" about the prospect of having up to 400 people "parked on the quay with nowhere to go, nothing to do, no legal status and no money to spend".
He said the economy of Waterford would not benefit and the city had already taken its share of programme refugees from Kosovo. "We're already doing our bit; what are others doing?" He had discussed the issue with other business contacts this week and this was the common view.
Mr Cullen told the Waterford radio station, WLR, yesterday that "a range of other questions", apart from the issue of tidal conditions, had to be resolved before a flotel could be located in the city.
"I think what people have seen on the continent, particularly in Holland and Norway, are these flotels in calm water areas, picturesque canal areas. There's a very big difference between that and a working port".
The Minister was in Amsterdam last night examining how a flotel operates there.