Results 2,041-2,060 of 5,626 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Cork County Council-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: What about affordable housing?

Vacant Homes Tax: Motion [Private Members] (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: I commend the Social Democrats, and especially Deputy Cian O'Callaghan. Deputy Gannon was just talking about solutions and this is a straightforward solution. The Government recognises a vacant property tax is a tool that can be used to get properties back in circulation. The big difference is the Government has gone for a 0.3% tax, whereas the motion before us calls for 10%. That is not...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: 71. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amounts collected, levied, owed and owed cumulatively under the Derelict Sites Register; and the number of sites on each register by local authority for 2022, in tabular form. [18429/23]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Departmental Data (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: 72. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amounts collected, levied, owed and owed cumulatively under the Vacant Sites Register; and the number of sites on each register by local authority for 2022, in tabular form. [18430/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: 146. To ask the Minister for Health the funding given for respite services in each CHO in each of the past five years in tabular form. [18460/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: 147. To ask the Minister for Health the funding given for residential respite services in each CHO in each of the past five years in tabular form. [18461/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: 148. To ask the Minister for Health the funding given for development of new respite services in each CHO in each of the past five years, in tabular form. [18462/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: 149. To ask the Minister for Health the number of applications made for respite services in each of the past five years, by CHO in tabular form. [18463/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: 150. To ask the Minister for Health the number of applications made for residential respite services in each of the past five years, by CHO in tabular form. [18464/23]

Department Underspend and Reduced Delivery of Affordable Housing: Motion [Private Members] (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: We all accept the Government's targets for affordable housing have been too low. Yet, yesterday's announcement of the housing statistics highlights that even with these very low figures the Government still cannot hit its targets. Affordable housing represents the only opportunity for many families to ever be able to own their own home. Yet the Government still cannot give those people the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: I understand there is a huge amount of work going on in the Department, and the work it is doing has probably never been so important. I have a couple of questions that I hope the witnesses will be able to talk me through. First, in 2022 the Department funded only 85 voids in Cork city and 2,307 nationally. The latest National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, report shows that it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: To return to the first point about the 85 voids, it is very easy to calculate how many voids come back or how many houses are returned to local authorities every year. In Cork I think the figure is about 20 a month. We are talking about the bones of 250 units a year. If Cork City Council knows that and the Department knows that, because it gets monthly reports from the chief executives,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Realistically, and with all due respect, I became a councillor in 2009, and in the 14 years I have been a councillor and a Deputy, Cork City Council has carried out no preventative maintenance. The number one issue is, it said, that it had no funding stream from central Government. While what Ms Timmons says, therefore, might sound very credible; on the ground that is not what is happening....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: There is no security of tenure in HAP. I spoke to a lady last Friday who became homeless last Saturday because there is no security of tenure in HAP if a landlord provides the correct documentation for a person to leave. It may be a way to get people out of homelessness, but that is a double-edged sword because some people become homeless on the back of notices to quit from HAP tenancies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Earlier there was reference to the 19,000 units of social housing that are in the construction report as being in the pipeline. While looking at it earlier, there were just a few things that came up, and I will refer to a few examples that I found in the report. Of the 19,000, there were 18 homes in Laois on site since quarter 4 of 2018. In Waterford, 24 homes have been at stage 1 approval...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: I thank Ms Stapleton. My next question relates to the discussion we had earlier with regard to the vacant homes unit now within the Department. How many full-time staff are specifically dealing with vacancy? I raised this issue about two years ago, and again last year, so it seems like there has been great progress.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Are they specifically dealing with vacancy and not doing three jobs?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Does dereliction come under that unit?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (18 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Before I go back onto dereliction, the Government brought in a vacant property tax last year of 0.3%, which I believe was a shocking and disgraceful decision. When one considers that the derelict sites levy is 7% I do not know how the 0.3% rate can be justified. If one looks at other European countries such as France, they start off with 10% of the annual yearly income and this rises to...