Results 3,261-3,280 of 5,626 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 311. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of whole-time equivalent staff members currently working on the Oireachtas passport query telephone line. [26298/22]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 312. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of whole-time equivalent staff members currently working on the passport query telephone line. [26299/22]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 313. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of whole-time equivalent staff members currently working on the passport webchat service. [26300/22]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 314. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the average wait time for a first-time child passport currently. [26301/22]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 316. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the estimated number of passports that will have been processed from 1 January to 1 July 2022. [26303/22]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 547. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she has examined the tourism potential of the old Cork prison site. [22135/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Investigations (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 643. To ask the Minister for Health the timeline for the completion of the investigation into the cremation of the remains of babies at Cork University Maternity Hospital. [26238/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: I live in Gurranabraher in Cork, a housing estate built 80 years ago by the Cork City Council. Local authorities are telling us they are not into large-scale direct builds any more. What do the witnesses think of that? We have seen in the past such delivery and in my city there are examples in Farranree, Churchfield, Gurranabraher, Knocknaheeny, Turner's Cross and Ballyphehane. There are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: Those are not direct builds but rather from contractors.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: I suppose my question is why are local authorities not delivering direct-build social, affordable and cost-rental properties when we are in the middle of a housing crisis? We know it is a model that worked in the past.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: I have no issue with the local authorities bringing in the private sector, but we should have both. We should have direct-build social, affordable and cost rental properties along with contractors. We are in the worst housing crisis in the history of the State and local authorities have a proven track record of delivering. During the financial crisis, many apprentices were partly through...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: My next question is for the SCSI and CIF. Until now, people building one-off housing may have wanted to build a carbon-neutral or zero-carbon home with inbuilt environmental aspects to make them as environmentally-friendly as possible. Given the increase in the cost of construction, have people changed the type of house they want to build? Have they stepped back and decided they cannot...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: We need to provide the right type of housing - sustainable and carbon-neutral housing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: Will the current increases in construction costs have a detrimental effect on the delivery of such housing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: That means increased construction costs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Construction Costs in Housing: Discussion (24 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: My first point relates to apprenticeships. We need to reach our goals in increasing the number of apprentices in all trades but we also need to have better pay and conditions and better security. Apprenticeships in countries such as Germany are much more highly valued than they are here. College is seen as the number one goal when people are leaving school, with apprenticeships valued...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 34. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of the implementation of legislation to prevent, in the future, a situation similar to that of a company (details supplied). [25372/22]

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Low Pay (19 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 42. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of the report received by the Low Wage Commission. [25371/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Technological Universities (19 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 126. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when technological university funding status will be given equal standing to NUI universities. [25374/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Apprenticeship Programmes (19 May 2022)

Thomas Gould: 156. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has considered an increase to apprenticeship rates given the rising cost of living. [25373/22]