Results 3,461-3,480 of 5,906 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: 340. To ask the Minister for Health whether a long Covid clinic launched by a person (details supplied) was denied funding, and the reason for same. [12137/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I join other committee members in thanking the Department for the work it is doing. This draft Bill is huge and complex. The Department is trying to cover so much. The various contributions that have been made to the committee over recent weeks reflect the scale of the work contained in the draft Bill. We all want to ensure the legislation is done right. It is probably a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I understand what Ms Jones is saying, given that residents’ associations can be quite diverse and can come from various areas, whether rural or urban. In my experience of residents’ associations and judging by the contributions at Tuesday's meeting, they bring great value. Especially when it comes to planning in a local community, it is good to have people with local...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I have a problem with this because a lot of communities do not have organised residents’ associations. I said this the other day and somebody disagreed me, but I am going only on my personal experience. In some communities, there is a lot of social housing and people are busy with young families, while in others, there might be a lot of retired professionals who have more time,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: Sorry, how could they as a group?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: The Department has clarified that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: They do not need to have been in existence for more than a year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I thank Ms Jones for clarifying that because it is one of the major concerns I and many people had. That is some positive-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I have another question, if that is okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: Perfect.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: To follow up on the point raised by Senator Boyhan, is the Department fully satisfied the draft Bill is in line with the Aarhus pillars?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: If people or organisations come forward to highlight concerns, the Department is open to taking those concerns on board.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: The Office of the Planning Regulator, OPR, and many others have spoken out against the imposition of fines on An Bord Pleanála for delays in decision-making. Will that imposition now be removed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: There were many concerns raised when it was mooted first that An Bord Pleanála would be paying fines to developers or applicants for delays. I will not go into why that provision was included in the first place. I understand the Department wants to keep An Bord Pleanála to timelines but the board having to pay fines to developers sends out the wrong message. Mr. Hogan referred...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: My apologies as I will have to leave the meeting to speak in the Dáil. There are tens of thousands of uncommenced planning permissions. These are sites that have received planning permission but are then just left idle. There are such sites in my constituency. We are in the middle of a housing crisis or emergency. This issue needs to be dealt with in planning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I hope to return before the end of the meeting.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: To follow up, I have a few further questions. The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland has found that more than half of Irish native plants are on the decline. How will this legislation work towards conservation? There has been criticism of previous planning Bills and the failure to define sustainable development and ingrain conservation in that. Will this Bill present a change in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: We have issues whereby the conditions on planning are not enforced and, in some cases, are actually unenforceable. Does the Department see the OPR as having a role in reviewing this situation? Recently, I put in a number of complaints to Cork City Council because electric car charging points were part of a planning process but were never delivered. I contacted the council recently and it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: Mr. Hogan just mentioned that conditions should be clear and enforceable. Last week, planning permission was received in Cork for the development of student accommodation. We have a huge shortage of student accommodation. It is important that we get accommodation for students. I put in a number of submissions because I had concerns about the density and height. One of the developments...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I get that but the residents have been onto me. People know it needs to be delivered but we need developments that are sustainable and include communities. There was another issue in regard to planning permissions. Is it right that developers can go for new planning permission applications when they already have planning permissions that they have not developed or they are sitting on...