Results 41-60 of 916 for at speaker:Thomas Gould

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Health Services (24 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: Good morning. I want to start by laying out the background to the issue relating to SouthDoc in Blackpool. As my constituency colleague, the Minister of State must be well aware of this matter. In 2020, the close of SouthDoc in Blackpool was announced on foot of the Covid-19 crisis. At the time, I raised concerns. Those concerns proved to be well founded when SouthDoc clearly stated that...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Health Services (24 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: I do not want to be disrespectful, but if the Minister for Health does not understand what is happening in the HSE in the context of SouthDoc in Blackpool, that is shocking. Some €7 million was paid to SouthDoc to provide an out-of-hours service, which it is not doing. If the Minister of State looks at my Facebook page, he will see the number of constituents by whom I have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: My next point is regarding the "future intentions" of anyone who applies for social housing. I know many people who apply for social housing. I come from social housing. My mother and father - and God rest my mother's soul - got a house in Knocknaheeny. My dad was able to buy the house later on, but when he signed up for social housing he was never asked about his future intentions. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024: Discussion (23 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: My point is regarding when a person does not declare their future intentions, for example, to purchase a house or to travel. They might decide to move from Cork to Dublin, etc. Does that then make their application null and void? What about if they decide to get into a relationship but they have not stated that in their future intentions? It just does not add up. I do not know how it...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (16 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: 335. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason only two of three sanctioned ASD classes at a school (details supplied) in Cork are operational; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16515/24]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (16 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: 706. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to staff dissatisfaction at the removal of staff car parking spaces from the CUH and CUMH; what engagement has taken place with staff and their unions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16388/24]

Anniversary of the Introduction of the Smoking Ban: Statements (11 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Burke, on his appointment. Obviously, we will have a robust debate over the next 12 months, but I wish him all the best. Where we can work together, we will, because this is a vital area. It is important to introduce legislation and amendments that we can agree on and work together on. Best of luck to the Minister of State. It is now...

Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2024: Second Stage (10 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: ...north ring road for Cork and, after they destroyed the country in the financial crash, it was scrapped. Now half of the city has a ring road on the south side, and nothing on the north side. Instead, articulated trucks go through housing estates, putting the people at risk and emitting fumes. Instead of putting away money for a rainy day with this investment fund, the Government should...

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Derelict Sites (9 Apr 2024)

Thomas Gould: 662. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the derelict sites levies levied, collected, owed and cumulatively owed and the number of sites on their register on 31 December 2023 and at current date, by local authority, in tabular form. [14647/24]

Accommodation for International Protection Applicants: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: ...and now he has to fight for his wife. Where is the fairness? He never had a problem with asylum seekers or refugees but one vulnerable group are being pitted against another. The anger should be at the Government, at its policies and at not giving his wife a medical card or his child the services she should have always had. His son came home from Australia to see his mother because she...

Accommodation for International Protection Applicants: Motion [Private Members] (21 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: We are not going to the right at all. We have to deal with people on the ground. I will not have that said.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Bus Services (21 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: There are huge issues with all of the bus services in Cork. Last week, Sinn Féin in Cork brought out a policy outlining that a minimum of 30 extra drivers need to be hired by Bus Éireann to fill the gaps that are now showing. Due to traffic congestion, we are seeing more people using the buses, which is what we all want, but the problem is that buses are being delayed and are not...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Active Travel (21 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: This is the fourth year that I have raised with the Minister the uneven allocation of funding between the northside and southside. People may think it is still funding being spent in Cork but if people come from the constituency that I represent, they can see the disparity in the funding. This is a serious issue that goes to the heart of the neglect of the northside by this Government....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Naval Service (21 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: Last month, the Irish Examiner reported that only one ship is currently available to patrol our 1 million sq. km exclusive economic zone. The newspaper also stated that a lack of expertise delayed the use of two smaller vessels, which arrived from New Zealand last May. These are unlikely to become operational until the winter, at the earliest. These two vessels cost €26 million. A...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Naval Service (21 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: ...seen the Naval Service do some excellent work, considering the resources available to it. The service needs to be commended on the work it does. I was told recently by a person on the ground that a ship left port without the required manning levels and health and safety measures in place. I do not want to say who told me this but they firmly believed the ship should not have left port....

General Practice and Local Health Services: Motion (20 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: I commend my party colleague, Deputy Cullinane, on bringing forward this motion. Unlike this Government, he has his finger on the pulse. If the Minister of State were to ask him about out-of-hours services in Cork city, he could tell him they are not functioning as they should. The Minister for Health told me on 29 February that he was not aware of any reduction of out-of-hours GP services...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (20 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: It is not the case that it only affects one-term councillors. If councillors are elected in the second half of a ten-year development plan, how much of an input will they have? I understand why the Government wants to extend the development plan, but the unintended consequences are that it affects the ability of councillors who are democratically elected to have a say in the way, for...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (7 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: The Tánaiste might remember in 2020 and 2021 SouthDoc Blackpool was closed. After a strong campaign by residents on the northside of Cork, it reopened later in 2021. At the time, the HSE said the closure posed a serious risk of unnecessary presentations to acute hospitals. More recently I have been contacted by constituents who told me they cannot see a doctor in SouthDoc and staff...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (7 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: There were two meetings and the Minister was not at any of them.

Housing Targets and Regulations: Motion [Private Members] (6 Mar 2024)

Thomas Gould: In the middle of all the statistics, targets and missed targets of this housing crisis, it is very easy to forget about real people and the real trauma they are experiencing. Just this morning, two people contacted my office. One was a mother with a four-year-old child who is couch surfing in her family's home because she cannot find anywhere to rent. She is on the social housing list....