Results 2,241-2,260 of 5,858 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: There is Boherboy Road, Middle Glanmire Road and Tower in Blarney. There are three schemes at present.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: The Boherboy Road houses in Mayfield have been built for nine months. They were announced 2019. Deputy Varadkar was also Taoiseach then and he was down there opening them. To be fair to Cork City Council it was the first local authority out of the blocks and it is delivering on numerous sites. People are contacting me because they will lose their homes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Will the Minister give me or Cork City Council a commitment regarding anyone who is approved to buy one of these homes if the bank pulls mortgage approval? One family, comprising a husband, wife and two children, is living in a box bedroom. They were waiting to move into one of these in February. Another family is split between each of their parents. Another woman with children has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: The only reason the Minister is going there is because I have been down in Cork shouting and roaring-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: I have been calling for these for months. This is the reason. It is the pressure that we have put on local authorities and the Department. I will move on because I am conscious of the time. This is all about the delivery of housing. We want to see houses delivered because we are dealing with unbelievable cases. The decision was made to lift the ban on evictions without supply. We know...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: What about all of the people who are becoming homeless?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: I disagree.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: We have asked for data on this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: If the Minister has data for this will he release it so that we can see it? All we hear is the Minister and others making comments but there is no proof. What I am saying is all based on proof. My anecdotal evidence is that the lifting of the ban on evictions is a catastrophe and there is no proof to say otherwise.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Earlier on, I said that just under 1,400 affordable houses were delivered. The Minister is correct; 1,800 of the 4,100 target were delivered. I just wished to correct the record on that. On that issue, the Minister mentioned Lancaster Gate in Cork, which has been a very successful cost-rental scheme. I have met people who live there. I give credit where credit is due and that is a very...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: We would change it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: We would change it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: What about the dereliction? I asked the Minister four questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: I asked the Minister four questions. I have only a minute left. Will the Minister answer one of my questions? I will pose another question to him now? My time is running out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: May I give the Minister a constructive solution?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: Last year, the Minister's Department only funded 85 voids. These are the local authority houses that are boarded up in every local authority area. There are more than 500 in Cork. Why does the Minister not fund the local authorities? I come from an area where there is social housing. Does the Minister know the damage that is done by the presence of boarded-up houses? It results in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: However, some 1,000 families joined the list.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: These are the facts.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing for All: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: I do.

Written Answers — Department of Rural and Community Development: Departmental Strategies (25 Apr 2023)

Thomas Gould: 82. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the role her Department is taking in the National Drugs Strategy. [19279/23]