Results 741-760 of 5,659 for speaker:Thomas Gould
- Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (18 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: 300. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on his engagement with the Minister for Children, Disability, Equality, Integration and Youth on a facility (details supplied) in Churchfield, Cork. [19708/24]
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Current Progress and Future Projections of Uisce Éireann Objectives: Uisce Éireann (18 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: I thank the witnesses for coming in. I have brought in a bottle of water today. This is what is going through the pipes on the north side of Cork city. I represent 130,000 people and, for the past two years, this is what Uisce Éireann has been delivering to our doors. It is an absolute disgrace. People are being told to run the water and that, when it runs clear, it is drinkable....
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: On local authority voids and vacant houses. We have seen a very slow turnaround time in many, though not all, local authorities. What can the Minister do to help turn these houses around? In Cork city there can be up to 500 voids at any one time and hundreds more in the county. I am looking for a solution here. What can the Department do to turn these around? I have a suggestion....
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: Sorry. I am conscious of time. We know where we are now.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: Reports from the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, and others show that some local authorities are taking over a year to turn around a vacant house. I am asking what we can do going forward. I am not being critical but what we can do now? We have 500 families in Cork who could be housed tomorrow if these houses were given out.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: That leads to my next question about housing maintenance. There are 146,000 social houses in the State. Two weeks ago, Sinn Féin introduced a motion on housing maintenance. We appreciate that the Government did not try to block it and allowed it to go through. That is good because housing maintenance is a huge issue. I raised a number of issues in the Dáil during that debate,...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: It is a drop in the ocean.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: Cork City Council has 11,000 properties, many of which are more than 60 years old. As a result of the austerity measures from 2007 onwards, only emergency maintenance was done. This means Cork City Council is 17 years behind the curve. It never kicked up because local authorities will not go against the Department or Government.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: Will the Minister of State reinstate all the staff who were slashed after the financial crisis when local authorities were told not to take on any more staff? These are facts.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: I support that move.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: I am conscious of the time. Just to let the Minister know, the first regeneration meeting in Knocknaheeny took place in September 2000. I was at it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: Twenty-four years later, it is not halfway done. The regeneration of Knocknaheeny could be used as a case study of how not to regenerate an area. I come from Knocknaheeny. Twenty-four years that regeneration has been ongoing. We will not get bogged down in that. As regards dereliction and the derelict sites register, just to let the Minister know, I am not picking on Donegal County...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: How many have been completed?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: No, but what-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: The money could be spread out as people draw it down. I am trying to be constructive here. It could be drawn down over time.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: Sorry, I was at the drugs committee meeting.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: To be fair to Waterford, it is the outlier. It does great work-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: To be fair, if you look at the rest of the local authorities, it is not happening.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: What people tell me is that it might be possible in Waterford but it does not make financial sense in other cities.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Discussion (13 Jun 2024)
Thomas Gould: That is what the local authorities are saying.