Results 5,941-5,960 of 6,045 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: That is not what I asked.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: I was here with the Minister's predecessor, Deputy O'Brien-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: I am asking the Minister questions and he is not answering them. I asked the Minister's predecessor, Deputy O'Brien-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: I want answers to the questions I asked. I am not looking for the Minister to run down the clock.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: I asked a question of the Minister's predecessor, Deputy O'Brien. He told me that the local authorities needed to be ambitious in taking up the tenant in situ scheme. Local authorities did so, but when Deputy Browne came in as Minister he did not stand over a commitment given by a previous Minister. I am asking the Minister a straight question. Will he provide funding to complete all...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: So they will all stay closed. The Cork city tenant in situ scheme is closed at the moment. I have it in writing from the council. It will not reopen tenant in situ because the Minister will not give them the money. It is a yes-no answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: That is not what I asked. I am asking questions, Chair, but I have not gotten one straight answer in five minutes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: It is closed. I have it in writing. I am asking the Minister if he will give the funding to reopen it. It is a yes-no answer. This is not confined to Cork. Across the State - in Dublin and Kildare, etc. - the tenant in situ scheme is closed. I am only asking if the Minister will provide funding to reopen it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: You are the Minister now. When I am the Minister for housing, I will answer the questions you ask me. You are the Minister today.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: Cork City Council's tenant in situ scheme has closed and it remains closed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: The figures on derelict sites normally come out in the first quarter of each year. They are not out yet. We are now in July. Can the Minister explain this? When will they be out?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: If the figures come out every year in the first quarter, I have to surmise that they are so bad that the Minister is holding them until the summer break. There is no other explanation, unless someone is not doing his or her job. When will the figures be out? They are months late. It does not make sense.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: Can the Minister understand my concern given that the figures are normally released in the first quarter and we are now in July?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: I do not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: The Minister might like to know that last year there were nine people working in the vehicle homes unit in the Department and there are now only eight. Since then, we have got the croí cónaithe scheme, the vacant homes tax and the compulsory purchase order activation programme. We have fewer workers than we did last year. The housing crisis is worse and we have given that unit...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: The figures show there are only eight people working there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: There are only eight staff in the Department's vacant homes unit and there were nine last year. A question was put to the Minister, which he answered, about boarded-up vacant houses. Between the tenant in situ scheme and the boarded-up local authority houses, which are owned by the State, we could house every family in emergency accommodation. This is a solution. It would not clear the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: The Minister actually raised that twice-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: I know. The Minister has mentioned it twice since I have raised it. Someone asked me if the Minister has any idea what it costs to put new stairs into a house, especially when the local authority cannot get that money back because it has already put in the maximum €11,000.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Priorities of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (8 Jul 2025)

Thomas Gould: I am talking to officials and with people-----