Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State spoke about capacity and funding being in place. I represent an area in Cork called Ballyvolane. It is now a massive area with a lot of privately built houses but also social housing. There is a mixture. There is no community centre. Right now, there is a plan to build 1,000 more houses, and in the wider Ballyvolane area there is the possibility of 2,000 houses and no community centre. It is unbelievable. For years, people have been trying to build a community centre there. This is a fabulous and vibrant community. Do you know what happened? Red tape, bureaucracy, Government officials and a lack of support wore people down. Do you know what they said? They said they could not be bothered. By the time people started making progress, all their kids were reared. They were already out of school, in college, working or gone. I want to work with the Minister of State. We have a huge issue here. The communities that do not have the capacity need it. There needs to be boots on the ground to help these communities.

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