Results 3,621-3,640 of 5,629 for speaker:Thomas Gould

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Urban and Rural Regeneration: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: There were three full-time vacant home officers in 31 local authorities. She might speak to that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Urban and Rural Regeneration: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: With regard to the town and village renewal scheme, I asked a question of the Minister and the Department in regard to Blackpool village, which is in Cork city. Blackpool is probably one of the most historic areas in Cork, with the history of the area going back hundreds of years. We have villages within cities which have their own identification and the people associate with them. Should...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Urban and Rural Regeneration: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: Thank you. With regard to sanctions for local authorities which do not collect the derelict sites levy or which do not list sites as derelict sites, is there anything we can do to ensure local authorities deliver? The figures I have are astounding, given the number of local authorities not even putting sites on the list or not collecting the levy. If we are going to tackle dereliction,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Urban and Rural Regeneration: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: There is one question I asked earlier and I am not sure if it has been answered as I had to go to the justice committee. Last year, I was informed there were only three full-time vacant homes officers in the 31 local authorities. The Minister then announced in November that there was an initial €10,000 on top of the existing €50,000 to ensure that every local authority will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: I thank everyone for being here today and for being so honest. Ms Byrne spoke about self-regulation on credit cards. I have brought forward the Betting (Prohibition on Use of Credit Cards) Bill 2021, which is on Second Stage in the Dáil at the moment, for a complete ban on the use of credit cards for gambling in shops and online. I do not believe that people should be able to gamble...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: There are 150 independent stores, and of that number one group has 50 stores and another two groups have 30 stores. This is 80. That 150 is now down to fewer than 70. The days are gone when a betting shop may have been a family run small business, because of the 800 shops, fewer than 70 are family businesses. Betting shops are big business and the vast majority are run by big companies....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: How does this system operate for online betting if a person wants to be excluded and does not want to be able to gamble?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: I thank Ms Byrne. I appreciate that. We do not have that system in Ireland at the moment for those who are at risk of problem gambling. That safeguard is not there for those who are at risk of problem gambling or might be on the verge of being in the throes of addiction. That is one of the reasons we need strong regulation and a strong regulator. With regard to Entain, Lottoland and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: I thank Mr. Finlay. I appreciate it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: I revert to a question I asked earlier about under 18s being able to see advertisements on social media and online. Have the witnesses spoken to Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets about ensuring that under 18s do not see those ads?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: Does that mean it will happen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: I have two daughters. Last year, when they were 14 and 11, they were able to see these ads online. During the Covid restrictions, many people spent more time on social media and online. If my children and other children can see them, I find it hard to believe it has been in place for two and a half years. If it has been in place for two and a half years, why is it not working?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: I thank Mr. Grant for that. I just want to raise two other points. The European school survey on the use of alcohol and other drugs, ESPAD, found that 3,400 15- and 16-year-olds in Ireland were engaged in problem gambling. For the in-store bookmakers how many underage people have been stopped in the past 12 months? Are there data over recent years on how many under 18s have been trying to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: Have we data on under-18s trying to access betting shops?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: That is only once-off. Does the IBA have national figures that are collated daily, weekly or monthly on under-18s trying to access betting shops?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: That is fine. Regarding the 3,400 young people aged 15 to 16 with problem gambling, is there any response to online targeting?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill: Discussion (8 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: Can we take it that this is in operation? If a person walks into a betting shop and does not want to bet any more, is the information given to every other betting shop, of the 800 betting shops, that this is a person who does not want to gamble? If this person says they have a gambling problem, does this happen?

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services (3 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: 76. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will confirm that the next draft of BusConnects in Cork will have a route from the northside to the Munster Technological University [12065/22]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (3 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: 87. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the status of the northern ring road. [12066/22]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Vacant Sites (3 Mar 2022)

Thomas Gould: 206. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the measures he is taking to increase the collection of the derelict sites levy in urban areas [12068/22]