Results 4,881-4,900 of 5,964 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024: Second Stage (19 Jun 2024)

Thomas Gould: As my colleague said, it is disappointing we are now speaking on a Bill without any pre-legislative scrutiny being done. This is another example of the Government refusing to engage constructively in the legislative process. We saw this last week when the planning Bill was rushed through the Dáil and guillotined, and we are seeing a similar issue now with the absence of pre-legislative...

International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Motion (Resumed) (19 Jun 2024)

Thomas Gould: The Government has worked day and night to put migration at the heart of politics and debate in recent months. It is a distraction from its failures of the housing crisis, the health crisis, the cost-of-living crisis and the crisis in disability services and supports. A person said to me recently that they feel the Government has made them racist because they are fighting for services...

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: Just one second. Uisce Éireann brought in private contractors when Cork City Council had excellent water workers who could have done the job. These contractors were brought in. Are they going to be held liable? Are they, in fact, going to be sued for the damage they have done in Cork city and the costs that will be accrued by Uisce Éireann and the taxpayers of this country?...

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: Just on that point, people have given up and stopped ringing in because it takes too long for them to phone in and get a response and a reference number. People have got two, three, four, five and six reference numbers and they have given up ringing Uisce Éireann because they do not believe they are being taken seriously. I highlight this point in the context of it being said that the...

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 have just one question. All I am looking for is to know when the people on the northside of Cork city will have a supply of water that is clear and safe to drink. If the witnesses tell me this will happen in three months or six months, we can tell people. All I am looking for is a timeline.

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 have several questions. Going back to the commissioning and operating of the new water treatment plant on the Lee Road, will Uisce Éireann be taking legal action against the private contractors for the issues there now?

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: Okay, but we did not have an issue before the new plant came on stream. We do have an issue now. Where did this issue come from and who is responsible for it?

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: Okay. Returning to the subject of the new plant, Ms Attridge commented earlier on some minor adjustment works perhaps being done to the plant. Is the plant producing water now? Why would there be a need to make more adjustments to the plant if the water is perfect?

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: Okay. To just go back to the point, we had clean water but we do not have it now. Why did this happen and who is responsible?

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 am not talking about the plant. We have a problem now.

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: Okay. Of the estimated cost of €500 million to replace the cast-iron pipes, how much funding has been applied for?

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: How much did those 25 km cost?

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: My issue is the timeline. Will this replacement be done in 12 months, five years or ten years? I ask this because this did not look like it was even going to be done within ten years based on my last meeting with Uisce Éireann. I find it astounding.

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: Yes, but I am only speaking about Cork now. The rest of the country has clean water but Cork does not.

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: In relation to the supply of clean drinkable bottled water, and I asked this already at our previous meetings in Cork, I am formally asking Uisce Éireann to supply clean bottled drinking water to the impacted communities. We can work with community centres, the GAA and other sporting organisations, the meals-on-wheels service, etc., to distribute it. If we look at the sample of water I...

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: Just to come back to that aspect of "for the most part", the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the concentration of THMs in water was above the threshold in January this year. Ireland was fined because of this finding. Is the water supply in Cork city being tested for THMs and manganese and, if so, what levels have these readings been at in the last six months?

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: The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled against us because of the concentration levels in the water.

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 am just conscious of time and I have two other questions I want to ask. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has said several reports indicated that oral exposure to manganese, especially from contaminated water sources, can produce significant health defects, especially for children. We have had people contacting us who believe their kids were sick in the last 12 months...

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: Okay. My last point concerns Glenville and Carrignavar. Ten houses were built in 2009. They were actually built and because of water and wastewater there is no one living in them. Why have they not been included in capital investment for 2025 to 2029? We are being told that is unlikely to be in place until after 2029. These houses will be 20 years old at that stage.

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 Ms Ryan.