Results 1-20 of 6,200 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Cost of Disability: Motion [Private Members] (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: The Minister of State and the Government are failing people with disabilities. The budget announced last week did nothing for them and actually made them worse off. The report the Government produced in 2021 outlined that it costs people with disabilities more to live because of the extras they need. It costs anything between €10,000 and €12,000 extra. What has the...

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: They do not qualify for cost-rental. What is the Minister going to do for them? What is he going to do for families who have nowhere to go and cannot find anywhere to rent or to buy? They are trapped in the middle and the Government let them down in the budget.

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: Once again, the Government is leaving out ordinary people.

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: These are facts. I will send the Minister the details if he wants them.

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: We need to see a major influx of funding and investment in housing and particularly in affordable, cost-rental and social housing. Right now, thousands of people are without secure, affordable housing and they are crying out for solutions. They are looking for the Minister and this Government to bring forward solutions. Cost rental is a good idea - it is one of the things we can all agree...

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: I am delighted the Minister said that. This is the pass-the-buck Government, blaming local authorities, which are not being funded. Deputy Browne is the Minister for housing, not the local authority.

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: Deputy Browne is the Minister in charge and the man with the purse strings, but he is blaming everyone else. He is like Pontius Pilate; he is washing his hands. If Deputy Eoin Ó Broin or I was the Minister for housing, we would stand up and be counted. We would accept our responsibility and we would deliver the housing. It would cost €13 million to fix every boarded-up house...

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: The Minister is shaking his head. I do not know if anyone is watching, but the Minister is shaking his head saying no, that he will not give money to repair boarded-up houses, to get families out of emergency accommodation and get families out of-----

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: The Minister shook his head and said no.

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: Ah, Minister.

Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (14 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: I will give the Minister another figure if he wants to burn money instead of building houses. It costs on average €87,500 to keep a family in a hotel in emergency accommodation. That is what we are spending, and it is only €31,000 to repair a boarded-up house. For years I thought the Government was over-smart, saying the market would solve the problem. I am now fully...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (9 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: 31. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he intends to continue with his plans to reopen the Old Cork Prison site; and the level of engagement he has undertaken with the local community on this matter. [53204/25]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Domestic Violence (9 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: 38. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the actions Cuan is taking to prevent the housing crisis from impacting on person’s ability to leave abusive relationships. [53203/25]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Pension Provisions (9 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: 246. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection whether a person with a private non-workplace pension can opt-out of the six-month auto enrolment pension. [54346/25]

Financial Resolutions 2025 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (8 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: Yesterday, the Government finally listened to me, to Sinn Féin and to all those who had campaigned so that the derelict sites levy would be collected by Revenue. I compliment Dr. Frank O'Connor and Ms Jude Sherry for the Trojan work they and others have done to highlight the scourge of dereliction. The Government finally brought in this levy for Revenue to collect to ensure that it was...

Financial Resolutions 2025 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (8 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: Is the Minister of State going to vote against it?

Financial Resolutions 2025 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (8 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: The Minister of State sold his soul for a Ministry.

Financial Resolutions 2025 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (8 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: You sold it to the devil.

Financial Resolutions 2025 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (8 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: We are telling the truth.

Financial Resolutions 2025 - Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed) (8 Oct 2025)

Thomas Gould: People cannot turn on their electricity because of the cost of it.