Results 261-280 of 5,605 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (15 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: 365. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the funding allocated to Cork City Council for preventative maintenance in 2024. [41306/24]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Public Sector Pay (15 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: 438. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she is aware that community prison link workers did not receive pay increases at a rate of similar roles in the HSE or section 39 workers. [41117/24]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: An Garda Síochána (15 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: 443. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí in each Garda station in Cork. [41235/24]

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Children in Care (15 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: 525. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of children currently living in care homes managed and operated by private contractors; the number of these homes; and the cost of these contracts, respectively in each of the past five years, in tabular form. [41237/24]

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (15 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: 547. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth for an update on the funding proposal by NCE for a facility (details supplied) in Churchfield, Cork. [41236/24]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Addiction Treatment Services (15 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: 600. To ask the Minister for Health for an update on the way the €2.3 million funding to community addiction services will be allocated. [41115/24]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Addiction Treatment Services (15 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: 601. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware that community prison link workers did not receive pay increases at a rate of similar roles in the HSE or Section 39 workers. [41116/24]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I thank the witnesses for attending. When I originally got into politics, I was not a big fan of AHBs. I believed they were doing the work local authorities should be doing. I just could not get my head around it. However, they do some fabulous work and I cannot understand why local authorities are unable to deliver what AHBs can. That might be down to funding or a number of other...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Ms Anderson mentioned that the rent calculation was based on a length of time. Is that 20, 30 or 40 years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Could a longer period be considered to help reduce costs? There are people who do not qualify for social housing, cannot buy a house and cannot pay market rents. Many people are living in box bedrooms. There is an entire box bedroom generation. Maybe we need to tease out the question of the period more. Deputy Ó Broin will probably do so. Capacity is another issue. We could do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: We know that there is definitely a need. A cost-rental scheme in Glanmire in Cork ran out of houses. I am not 100% sure about the figures, but I believe there were 1,200 applications for 36 properties.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Ms Anderson touched on the standard of cost-rental accommodation. In Cork, it is of a very high quality and being managed properly. It is a place people want to live. I spoke to two young women who were sharing a property on Lancaster Quay. One worked in the hospital and the other worked in the city council. They were really positive about the accommodation. They spoke about a community...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I apologise, I am going to have to leave after this. Something struck me when Ms Cleary was speaking about older people and pensioners. We see pensioners who are homeless, which was probably something we never saw previously in the lifetime of this State. There are 224 now, and the number is creeping up slowly. I imagine that the vast majority of people who avail of cost-rental properties...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I appreciate that. What happens to that lady I mentioned who is on €42,000 who does not qualify for HAP because she is over the threshold? Many people have to pay a lot of extra money over the HAP amount in order to get rental properties. Will HAP be sufficient in order that there will not be pensioners who are struggling? Will it be enough for pensioners to still be able to afford...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I had not thought of what Ms Hennigan said about people who lose their incomes for different reasons, namely losing their jobs or on foot of health issues. It is important that work is being done, so that is good to hear. We are looking at cost rental long term. People are saying we need to develop the Irish mentality to cost rental, and all those things need to be considered. One of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I wanted the witnesses to say that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Even if we were to take the human side out of it, Mr. O'Gorman has made the point about the consequences of having cold and damp houses with mould in them. I have people now whose clothes in their wardrobes are mouldy. The ends of their beds are getting damp because they are up against the wall. The human cost of this is great, but so is the financial cost. When there is a chance to do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I always that the concept whereby an AHB or a local authority would step in when a family was in trouble rather than that family losing its house was a good one. There seems to be a reluctance, however, to get involved in this undertaking. I would like to see more of it being done. I say this because my big worry now is that people are paying so much for overvalued homes that some of them...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I thank Ms Cleary.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: What I am taking from that is that we are saying local authorities cannot plan in the long-term.