South Kerry Independent ail TD Mr Jackie Healy-Rae has warned of growing resentment and of "civil rumpus" unless tougher policies on asylum-seekers are implemented immediately. "People are getting very agitated," he said.
Mr Healy-Rae said he was making his remarks because of what he described as "growing resentment" in Kerry and in rural areas generally. "The resentment is building and it is unbelievable. In the last three weeks in particular it has become very heated. In the last 48 hours alone I have got the height of abuse to see why I won't pull the plug on the Government," he said.
He was being asked by people "who can't get a medical card, or a room added on to their house, why am I supporting a Government that is giving all these conditions to people coming in illegally".
Mr Healy-Rae said he found it ludicrous that it would take five years to accommodate a small group of 31 Traveller families in Kerry, many of them living on the side of the road, "when 100 refugees can be sorted out in a week".
He fully supported the deportation policy of his fellow South Kerry TD, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue. "I want more screening. I don't want to be putting more pressure on O'Donoghue. But I am going to talk tough language to the Government when I meet with them."
Deportation and proper screening were two of the key issues he would be addressing, he said.
On concerns over lack of information, he said: "The real lack of information is about numbers. One person from the Department will tell you there are 8,000 in the country. Another something else. My view is there are 80,000 - 20 times more than we are being told. And the Department does not know the actual figures.
"I'm 100 per cent behind O'Donoghue to give them the road out of the country," he said. "The people who aren't here at all are the ones in right trouble. They can't get the big money to get in here. Where did the people who got here get the big money?
"I am firmly in favour of helping refugees who are genuine. And I am not racist. But I am warning you, in six months' time you will be writing about civil rumpus in this country."