Results 4,061-4,080 of 5,683 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Draft Planning and Development (LRD Fees) Regulations 2021: Motion (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: There was a lot of talk about the resources coming in. It is vital that local authorities get funding, and I ask the Minister to bear this in mind and to examine that aspect. We also have major problems with planning departments being unable to cope with the number of planning applications being submitted. That is particularly the case regarding projects that the local authorities are...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: I have a number of questions. I am hoping the Minister will keep things tight with his answers. As was the case last year, the Estimates come in after local authorities draw up their budgets. In Cork City Council, which the Minister referenced earlier, the loss of income and expenditure due to Covid-19 came in at approximately €4 million. This resulted in a shortfall of €1.5...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: At a recent budget meeting, €1.5 million in cuts was mentioned. As the Minister knows, the problem for local authorities is that they have to deliver a balanced budget. They expect the money to come in afterwards. When they pass a budget, it must be balanced. I look forward to going back to Sinn Féin councillors in Cork City Council to tell them that there will be no cuts for...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: Councillors did not do that. This came from the finance department in Cork City Council. I will make sure our councillors raise the matter and that the finance department contacts the Minister's Department. If he has said everything is fine, I will trust him on that. The derelict sites levy is not being collected. A total of €12.4 million should have been collected in levies...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: I want to clarify something------

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: The LDA is managing the St. Kevin's site. We still do not know what the affordability of the site will be.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: Can the Minister tell me-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: -----what the cost of an affordable house in St. Kevin's will be?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: About 20 homes become available in Cork every month. The 241 voids to which the Minister referred are simply units that were returned during the year. I raised this matter when I was a councillor six or seven years ago. There is no budget in housing for returning voids that come up every month. This is something that we should consider.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (2 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: I will give credit where credit is due. The next time the Minister is in Cork and meets Ann Doherty and Brian Geaney, could he meet me? I will walk around and show him derelict and vacant sites and voids. He can tell me whether things are positive.

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: To follow on from Deputy Boyd Barrett, costs should not be a barrier to groups looking for protections for the marine environment and the marine area. At the end of the day, for people who have genuine concerns about the environment, especially the marine, costs are restricting their ability to look for justice, to look for what is right and to look for protection. Some groups could have...

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: Deputy Boyd Barrett made the point about the concerns that people have. We are especially concerned about amendment No. 51. It is why Deputies Ó Broin, Boyd Barrett and others are looking to delete lines 15 to 39 on page 118, and to delete lines 1 to 19 on page 119. We believe these lines should be deleted. What are the Minister's thoughts?

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: Just to clarify, is the Minister of State stating here, in the Chamber, that the process of flipping a MAC cannot happen under this legislation?

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: That is on the record.

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: The Minister of State made the point that it is not believed that mineral extraction and mining will happen in the near future until the data are there and until we know more. That is very vague. Maybe I am picking the Minister of State up wrong and he can clarify this for me, and I hope he can, but putting something in the Bill to deal with something that might happen down the road - it...

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: There are serious concerns over mining, extraction and exploration. We know there are companies out there that want to take advantage of our marine environment. That is why it is key that this Bill puts the protections in place to ensure that cannot happen. Sinn Féin has taken the position that no more fossil fuels should be extracted. We talk about climate change. We have to get...

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: I will let the Minister of State in first.

Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: This was actually discussed on Committee Stage, was it not? We were expecting it to be corrected. We have to be very conscious in anything we publish and any Bills we pass going forward. I should not say "going forward"; we should always have been conscious in that way.

Workplace Ventilation (Covid-19) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: Last night, the Minister was asked about HEPA filters in schools. He pointed to opening windows and doors. Teachers have contacted me. I was sent a photograph of a teacher who was teaching in a school last week and it was 3°C in the classroom. The Government was asleep during the summer and for the past six months when filters and CO2 monitors should have been put in. The whole area...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Fire Stations (1 Dec 2021)

Thomas Gould: 84. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Ballincollig fire station, Cork is currently closed; if Cork City Council has sought additional funding to reopen the station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59189/21]