Results 2,221-2,240 of 5,659 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Funding (8 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: 283. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development whether a community association can appeal the number of staff it is allocated through funding and not just the amount of funding allocated. [11682/23]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tracker Mortgages (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: 71. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will engage with the Central Bank with respect to the sale of tracker mortgages to vulture funds where those mortgages were overcharged as a result of the tracker mortgage scandal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11337/23]

Environmental Protection Agency (Emergency Electricity Generation) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: Once again we are in the Chamber debating legislation that the Government is attempting to rush through the Oireachtas. The approach of the Government has been nothing short of chaotic when it comes to firefighting scandals and attempting to ram through legislation to cover up its mistakes and the mistakes of previous Governments. Week after week we come into the Chamber to have a Minister...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I thank the witnesses. It has been interesting to listen to the points they have made and to hear their submissions. I have a brief question first. Are any of the residents' associations or the community associations represented on the planning advisory forum?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: Was it a planning failure that allowed that to happen, where developers were allowed to come in, say it was student accommodation and then set it at such a price afterwards that they were not actually housing students? The students lost out on the student accommodation. Would that be fair to say?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I have a final question. I am conscious of the time. In the submissions, there were serious concerns about excluding citizens from engaging in the planning process with this new Bill. Residents associations do fabulous work but I think the point was touched on earlier. When it comes to people who are renting and people from big social housing developments, many of them do not have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: There is one on Blarney Street, which is around the corner for me. There are great groups but I see an imbalance in the number of community associations in, let us say, social housing compared with private housing. However, where they are organised, they are very organised. I will make one last point. We had an issue where there was a prison built in the Glen in Cork. The only way to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I recall that we went through that two weeks ago and that it is a person or a company. That company then-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: The Cathaoirleach is right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: A very important point was raised here on which we need clarity. In its submission, the DDPA raised concerns about unintended consequences due to the uninformed changes regarding individuals, local representatives and local authorities. Ms Kimber touched on it there. We could be in an impossible situation if we do not have clarity and if we exclude people from the planning process. I see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: Those companies must have been established for more than one year and there are other rules companies must follow to take an appeal. To return to the OPR, when it finds on compliance, what do the witnesses think it should be able to do?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I have another question for both groups on the work done by individuals, residents' associations, community and civic groups. This work could be on planning, in particular, related to the making of submissions. That work is often overlooked. There is a lot of work and time spent on comparing and contrasting development plans, imagining the impact applications would have, and ultimately...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I thank the witnesses.

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Grant Payments (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: 297. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will provide an update on the review into housing adaptation grants. [11160/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Inquiries (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: 551. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 279 of 23 February 2023, if he is aware that the families concerned have made requests to meet the HSE individually and as a group but have not yet received a response. [10948/23]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Welfare (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: 697. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the last time a vet from his Department inspected horses engaged in sulky racing in Cork city. [11159/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (7 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: In my constituency there is a residents' association on Magazine Road, Cork. For the past few years, and especially during Covid, they have been highlighting the whole issue of planning in respect of student accommodation and the consequences of not having the development zoned for student accommodation, and the effects this development has on the community who are living among it. We see...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services (2 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: 46. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on BusConnects Cork. [10455/23]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Flood Risk Management (2 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: 107. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide an update on the Glashaboy flood relief scheme. [10495/23]

Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (1 Mar 2023)

Thomas Gould: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Credit unions are in a unique space in the context of financial institutions in this country. They are rooted at the heart of communities, which makes them completely different from the banking sector and the way it is now. Credit unions are often compassionate institutions that offer people support. I will briefly touch on a couple of...