Results 2,341-2,360 of 5,904 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Funding (25 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 45. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if funding is available for persons seeking to remove and replace asbestos water tanks from former Cork City council homes. [26641/22]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (25 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 52. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport applications that were delayed due to the fact that consent forms could not be verified with the relevant Garda station by month since January 2022, in tabular form. [26611/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Curriculum (25 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 116. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the Good Friday Agreement, the vote on same and the aftermath of the vote are covered on the junior certificate history syllabus. [26827/22]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Peace Commissioners (25 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 160. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the certificate confirming a person as a peace commissioner is a once-off document; the location in which a person can request a new copy. [26619/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health and Safety (25 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 228. To ask the Minister for Health the risk posed by an asbestos water tank. [26788/22]

Irish Apprenticeship System: Statements (26 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: World Skills Ireland has warned that we need urgent investment in apprenticeship infrastructure if the Government is serious about addressing the chronic skills shortages in areas like construction. Deputy Ó Laoghaire and I recently met representatives of MTU in Cork where we heard about its ambitious plans for apprenticeships. We also heard that it is teaching apprentices in old,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Overcrowding (26 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 72. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to address overcrowding in emergency departments in Cork. [26911/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Strategies (26 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 109. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the establishment of strategic implementation groups and a civil society forum to consult on the National Drugs Strategy. [26912/22]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (26 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 142. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the horse project for Cork city. [26914/22]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (26 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 250. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the documents for the passport application of a child (details supplied) will be verified. [27045/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (26 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 334. To ask the Minister for Health if consideration was given to expanding the pandemic bonus to section 39 workers. [21481/22]

Transport, Accelerating Sustainable Mobility: Statements (31 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: Over the weekend, we witnessed shocking sights at Dublin Airport arising from issues with capacity. There was chaos, with more than 1,000 people missing flights, many of them unable to depart for holidays they had waited three years to go on and others delayed in visiting family or leaving for work opportunities. Some of those people will not get the time off work at a later date to take...

Food Price Rises: Motion [Private Members] (31 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: While I was sitting down today writing this speech, I thought about the difficulties that many people were experiencing at the moment because of the cost of living crisis and about how they were suffering. They are finding it hard and life should not be hard. If you are going to work every day and doing everything right you should be able to put food on the table, heat your home and look...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Oversight Audit Commission’s 2021 Annual Report: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: One of the biggest issues or concerns I have relates to housing maintenance. Obviously, it accounts for a significant part of the budget of most local authorities. According to the reports produced by NOAC, there was a decrease of 12% in funding spent from 2014 to 2020 but an increase of 17.4% in registered tenancies. When one calculates the decrease in funding and the increase in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Oversight Audit Commission’s 2021 Annual Report: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: I apologise for interrupting Mr. McCarthy. That was going to be my next question. I ask him to hold off on addressing voids for the moment. I am keen to discuss them with him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Oversight Audit Commission’s 2021 Annual Report: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: My issue is the decrease in expenditure on housing maintenance for social housing that is currently occupied by tenants. The housing stock is ageing and people are living in houses that have single-glazed aluminium windows and no insulation. There is no retrofitting of those houses going on. Actually, retrofitting is not in the report. I do not believe local authorities are performing to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Oversight Audit Commission’s 2021 Annual Report: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: What are the consequences? If NOAC audits the 31 local authorities and some are best in class, some are in the middle and others are at the bottom, what are the implications? From what Mr. McCarthy has told me, a person living in Cork may not be getting the same housing maintenance as a person living in Tipperary or Dublin. I believe all social housing tenants should be treated equally and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Oversight Audit Commission’s 2021 Annual Report: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: Great. My next point relates to voids. I was surprised at the figures referred to by Mr. McCarthy. He stated it takes 14 to 15 weeks to turn around a void. To clarify, the performance indicator report with which we are now dealing is the 2020 report. The report for 2021 has not yet been published. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Oversight Audit Commission’s 2021 Annual Report: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: The figures from which I am operating state that from 2017 to 2019 the periods were 29 weeks, 28 weeks and 28 weeks, respectively. The figure increased by 65% from 2014 to 2020. The figures I have are much higher than those referred to by Mr. McCarthy. My figures come from the indicator report. The most recent figures I got from Cork City Council indicate a period of 64 weeks. When I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Oversight Audit Commission’s 2021 Annual Report: Discussion (17 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: We discussed voids earlier and I checked the figures. I would like to be associated with the appreciation for the work done by the witnesses in the report they put forward. It is very valuable, especially the indicators which show 31 local authorities getting all of the information together. That provides Deputies, Senators and councillors with the ability to apply pressure on or...