Thomas Gould
Cork North-Central · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I stand here in the shadow of Cork men and women who fought and died for Irish freedom. I think today of Mary MacSwiney, who went from her brother's deathbed to this Dáil. She was the true embodiment of a rebel. When we talk about the cost of Irish unity, Mary MacSwiney also spoke about the cost of Irish freedom in the Dáil.”
“The truth is the Six Counties have been economically trapped and cannot reach their full potential under Britain. If these economies were to grow like Cork and Galway, they would be a net positive financial impact on Irish unity.”
“The difference that Irish unity could make is much more tangible for them now. Ireland unfree shall never be at peace. I want to send a message to all of those young people. The cost of unity is the cost of their future. It is the cost of the life they could build here.”
“I welcome the debate today. Ireland has a proud history and tradition of myths and legends, from Cú Chulainn to Tír na nÓg to the Children of Lír, which have passed down through the generations. However, the latest myth and legend some people are telling is far more damaging. There are people who claim that we cannot afford Irish unity.”
“Professor Seamus McGuinness of the ESRI clearly stated that FitzGerald's hypotheses were based on a scenario that could never happen. Do you know what that reminds me of? For years, when we talked about climate change, climate change deniers were rolled out to give their opinions, even though all the science was against them.”
“The Minister of State referred to the new 90-minute fares and the fact that people can tap on and tap off. I want to let her know that the fare is €1.90 but next week, it will be €2.40. That is a 26% increase in the fare. How can that be justified?”
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“We know from previous years that local authorities are underfunded, understaffed and under-resourced. If we want local authorities to deal with this, the Government must support them. I propose that the derelict sites levy be taken off local authorities and given to Revenue because the one thing we know is if Revenue is given the job, it will do that job. What we have at the moment are land hoarders. They do not have to pay the local property tax because the property is derelict. They will not pay the derelict sites levy because local authorities do not have the staff to enforce it. What is happening? Will the Minister of State release the derelict sites data? Will he look at moving the collection of it to the Revenue Commissioners?”
“I also have an image of a vacant building in Sligo. In every town and every village, we have boarded-up properties. What is the Government doing about it? We do not know whether these buildings are on the derelict sites levy. Even though the data was collected in quarter 2, and I have looked for it at least ten if not 12 times, I cannot get an answer from the Minister. Will the Minister of State commit to responding to me and to releasing the data in relation to derelict sites levies? Are the levies being charged? How many sites are on the levies? What local authorities are either putting sites on or charging the levies? There is information that needs to be delivered. Will the Minister of State commit to releasing that data? To be honest, it looks like to me that a cover-up is going on around dereliction.”
“More than 5,000 children are in emergency accommodation and at the same time, we have vacant, derelict buildings in every town, city and village. It is madness. What is being done about it? I will give a couple of ideas to show what I am talking about. I have a printed image of a street in Cork. It has been like that for years. It is not just Cork. I have an image of Crumlin village. What could be a lovely house with an extension on it has been boarded up. It is not just that. I have an image of Dublin city centre. A block of houses has been left boarded up to rot while there is a huge waiting list in Dublin for the many people in homeless accommodation. People cannot rent or buy. It is not just here. A massive building in County Kerry is vacant and derelict. I have an image of another in Buncrana, County Donegal.”
“Right across cities, towns and villages, there are empty, vacant, and derelict houses and buildings lying idle. They are being left to rot. These are properties and homes where people should be able to live, work and raise families, but instead they are left derelict and vacant. GeoDirectory has found record levels of commercial vacancy. It has also found that only 2,377 homes have been charged with the vacant homes tax. There are probably two or three times more than that in Cork city alone. This is a shockingly low figure. Why is more not being done to tackle vacancy and dereliction? These empty buildings are ripping the heart out of communities in our cities, towns and villages. They are destroying local economies and forcing people to live in overcrowded, substandard accommodation and in many cases emergency accommodation.”
“It was because she drove a car without tax or insurance. She did not have the money for them. Not alone could she not pay for them, but she got no house as a result. That is how desperate people are.”
“We are supposed to bring forward solutions for ordinary families. I spoke to a person over the weekend who told me she is terrified of Christmas. How is she going to put that together for three children - two girls and a boy? I was at the boy's match the other day. She is worried about Christmas. People were worried when the kids went back to school, they are worried about Christmas and they are worried about birthdays. At the same time, they are worried about how they are going to pay their car insurance. A great number of people in the areas I represent have dropped house insurance because they cannot afford it. I will leave the Minister of State with this. I know a girl who applied for Cork City Council housing. She was being interviewed to get a house. Does the Minister of State know why she was refused a house?”
“The Government has done the same with electricity and gas. It lets private sector companies come in and do whatever they want in this country. Not only that, but Europe has allowed the same thing. We have the highest prices for food, insurance, electricity and everything else. Fine Gael has been in government for 14 years and Fianna Fáil has been in government for ten. It was they who allowed this continue. What have they done to stop it? We are trying to bring forward solutions. I can fight with the Minister of State all day long. I will stand up here for 24 hours and fight with him. There is no better man to do it. We are coming in here to try to fix problems because there are people watching this tonight who are asking what we are doing. We are the Dáil. We are the Teachtaí Dála.”
“I am asking a question. The Minister of State is telling me we are wrong. I am asking him a simple question. Has the Government capped these profits? What has it done to tackle them? It is not just insurance.”
“To follow on, I see the Minister of State is reading his notes. When he gets the opportunity to address us, I would like him to explain to us how the companies justify the prices being so high. We understand there are costs to insurance, including the cost of payouts and the costs of administration, but how can the enormous profits these companies are making be justified?”
“What about ordinary people who are on the average industrial wage or lower-income people? How are they supposed to survive? They must pay for car insurance, home insurance and all of these things. The Minister of State is getting his answers from his officials. Deputy Doherty has given him the answers but he has turned a blind eye time and again. It is time the rip-off is stopped. It is time the insurance companies are tackled. It is time this Government stood up on this issue once and for all.”
“Deputy Doherty has brought forward facts and figures. He has outlined how these companies have ripped off the Irish people. He has brought forward Bills to tackle this rip-off. What is it? Why will the Government not tackle them? Are there vested interests involved? Is the Government afraid of upsetting the apple cart? What is the issue here? I have a daughter who is 19 years old. She has just learned how to drive. A couple of weeks ago, she passed her driving test on the first attempt, which is brilliant. She is going to college. She is doing a small bit of work part-time and going to college as well. Without me and her mother, she could not afford the insurance to drive our cars. I have a good job. I am a Teachta Dála. What about the other families out there? My wife is a schoolteacher.”
“I will be honest; this is mind-boggling. Insurance companies have been ripping off the Irish people for as long as I can remember. I am 57 years of age. I have been driving for 39 years and for 39 years these companies have ripped off me and everyone else in this State. People are struggling with the cost of living. They are struggling to put food on the table, to pay the rent and to keep the lights on and everyone needs to get to work, school, college or hospital appointments. You cannot depend on public transport. I live in Cork city, the second city in this State. Even in the cities, you cannot depend on public transport. You need to have a car if you need to get to appointments, work or college. The Government is allowing the insurance companies to laugh at the Irish people and to rip them off year in and year out.”
“On Saturday, 4 October, there will be a Raise the Roof protest in Cork. I plead with everyone to come out at 2.30 p.m. to the Grand Parade to send a message to the Government that enough is enough.”
“My previous role was in addiction recovery and well-being and I know that the number one reason for people going into active addiction or ending up in the throes of addiction is childhood trauma. The damage that this Government, as well as previous Governments of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, is doing and has done to the children of this country is untold. In a couple of years, weeks or days, someone from Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael will stand up and talk about criminality and what is happening on the streets and about how they are going to crack down. If they looked after children who were in poverty and took them out of that poverty, they would not have to be coming out with this drivel about cracking down. The Government did not support families with children when they needed it.”
“He has also stopped downsizing or rightsizing so that three- or four-bedroom houses could come back into use because he has cut the capital budgets. These are facts. I have one straight question for the Minister, man to man. How many children must become homeless before he finally admits that he and his Government are wrong? I asked his predecessor, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that question when the figure was at 4,500. We are now at 5,000. How many children? Where is the accountability? Deputy Browne is the Minister for housing and the buck stops with him. Is he going to stand up and take responsibility? Is he going to do that? We are talking here about child poverty. Sometimes, it is actually hard to see it when children are playing together but I see it in communities right across this country.”
“A number of Deputies have referenced the more than 5,000 children who are now homeless and living in emergency accommodation. That figure is actually much bigger because people are living in overcrowded accommodation, with three generations of families in one home, children growing up in box rooms and so on. I mean it sincerely when I say that it is going to get worse. I know that because people are in my clinic every week who are at risk of becoming homeless, who are hanging on, overstaying or living in cramped accommodation with their families, which can only last for so long. The Minister, as the Minister for housing, has done nothing. If anything, he has actually made things worse. He has stopped the tenant in situ and housing first schemes.”
“I am a TD for Cork North-Central and cannot receive correspondence – emails or phone calls – from Bus Éireann on any of my questions. I am a TD representing my community, including children with additional needs, but I cannot get an answer. It is not good enough. It is not good enough that the Department is refusing. It will not answer to parents, schools or TDs. Who is responsible? Who is going to fix it? Is the Minister of State going to fix it? I am asking the question and will be back here again next week to ask it. Will the Minister of State give a commitment here today that all those children will have school transport put in place? Will he give a commitment that Bus Éireann will contact all of them with a timeline? The way they are being treated is not good enough.”
“I spoke to a lady whose son Cillian is on a bus with six other children, none of whom has got school transport down to Carrigaline. Other families have children going up to St. Paul's, St. Bernadette's and Scoil Éanna in Montenotte but they have no transport. Those in Carrignavar go to Fermoy because the Carrignavar school is not built yet. They have no school transport. A guy from Youghal who supplies buses contacted me today. He has four specialised buses that can take six children or three children in wheelchairs. He is ready to go. He has the buses and drivers but cannot get an answer from Bus Éireann. What kind of a show is the Government running? What kind of a show is it when there is a man with four specialised buses and children screaming and crying for school transport but no one to give an answer?”
“Last week, I stood here and outlined cases of children who cannot get buses. Children with additional needs cannot get transport to special schools. There were places made available but, once again, these children are being let down. Just to let the Minister of State know, in the past week only one family has got school transport. Do you know how it got it? It went to a solicitor. Are we now in a situation in this country where children with additional needs and children with disabilities must go to solicitors to get what is their constitutional right? Is that the kind of country we are running at the moment? As I was coming into the Chamber, I was on the phone and heard that not one of those children under discussion has had transport.”
“I do not believe that the increases the Minister of State is talking about keep up to date with the construction inflation of the past three years. People are telling me they cannot afford to upgrade their homes. What are the Minister of State and the Government going to do to support people who need it?”
“The Minister of State urgently needs to instruct the SEAI to collect data on people who withdraw their applications to the scheme. It needs to find out why people withdraw. A survey by AIB showed that 62% of people who wanted to retrofit and upgrade their houses to become more energy efficient could not afford to do so. The figures are showing that the people who need their homes upgraded and retrofitted, those who need support, cannot get it but the people who have the money and, in many cases, do not need the grants can get them. There is something wrong with the system. We need to know the information as to why people are withdrawing from the scheme and not taking it up. We also need to know why people are not applying.”
“They could not get the scheme done in their house because they did not have the additional money to do it, but their neighbours across the road in an identical house could get it because they had the money. What are we doing? Can we get the figures on how many people are withdrawing? What are we doing to get the support to the people who most need it?”
“I asked a simple question - what was the percentage of people who withdrew from the SEAI scheme - and I did not get the percentage. People are telling me that they are withdrawing from the scheme or not applying to the scheme because they do not have the money. It turns out that the people who most need the retrofitting and the upgrading works to their house to bring them to at least a B2 standard cannot afford the money that is needed. For example, heat pumps cost anywhere from €8,500 to €20,000 but the maximum grant available from the SEAI scheme is €6,500. I know a family in Farranree, Fairhill in Cork who could not get the scheme done. They are pensioners. They are not that old but they are retired.”
“I had a woman on our meeting last night. Her child has never been to school and the Minister of State is telling us about forward planning. I have one simple question. There are children in Cork who have no bus places to Scoil Éanna, St. Paul's, Scoil Bernadette, Rochestown, Carrigaline, east Cork and Carrignavar. When will those parents have access to buses to bring their children to school? I spoke to representatives of Bus Éireann. They will not even take the phone calls from the parents. It is a disgrace; that is what it is.”
“They were given school places, but no transport. Children from Knocknaheeny, Mayfield and Ballyvolane are being sent to Rochestown and Carrigaline. That is an hour each way. Parents have to take time off work or school and cannot drop their other children to school yet the Minister of State comes in here and tells me that there is a review and the Government will know in October. It should know today. It is its job to know today. How dare the Minister of State come in here and disrespect those parents, not just the parents in the Gallery, but those all over the country who have to deal with this? The Government talks about forward planning. Fine Gael has been in government for 14 years and Fianna Fáil for nine years. What have they been doing? I have parents crying on the phone to me because their children cannot get to school.”
“Like the previous speaker, I do not doubt the Minister of State's sincerity, but it is a load of bull. I will be honest. I will be straight with him. Every year we come here and parents of children with additional needs are being let down. One Minister after another comes in with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste telling us all they are doing. However, people have children with additional needs at home who cannot get to school. Why are those children not being treated the same as every other child? Why are those children being victimised and discriminated against? Does the Minister of State know why? It is because the Government does not give a rat's ass about them. I am sick and tired of listening to figures and hearing that the Government is doing this and that. I had a meeting last night with parents.”
“I am asking the Taoiseach to work with the Minister for Health and with me and the family to give Aisling a chance so that she can spend time with her family and children at Christmas and that she will have a future.”
“A lady called Aisling Thornhill from Farranree in my constituency - a mother of two children, a seven-year-old and a two-year-old, with her partner Graham - is dying and the only thing that will save her is CAR T-cell therapy. She has gone through all the therapies that she and her consultant can give her to this point. If she does not get the CAR T-cell treatment immediately, she will not see Christmas. This is a young mother with two young children. I have often come in here and argued with the Taoiseach and the Government parties. I am not doing that today. I sent the information to the Taoiseach's office, and so have her family and friends. I am pleading today. No mother's life should be at risk because of money.”
“Houses were built all over the place with no services, no shared spaces, no schools, no crèches and then everyone wanted to know why we had major problems in some of these communities. The buck stopped with those Governments in the same way it will stop with this Government.”
“This could be an iconic situation in Cork, but it could also turn into social housing mini-apartments and down the road we will have antisocial behaviour, deprivation and lack of investment. The Minister made a point earlier about all the money the Government has invested in parks, playgrounds and public spaces. I live on the northside of Cork city and there has been virtually nothing. There are no regional parks in the north west or the north east. They have far below the level of parks and playgrounds there are in other parts of the country. If we are going to be delivering the Cork docklands and the Minister is saying the developers and builders are not going to be putting in the shared spaces, then those spaces have to go in first because they never go in afterwards. We saw that during the Celtic tiger.”
“The Minister made a comment earlier that this is the size of the apartments in Austria. Will people pay the same rents? The Minister might check that out for us because I can tell him they will not. If he is making a comparison he should make the whole comparison. My big worry is there is a major development going in Cork's docklands. We are looking at maybe 10,000 units. The Minister was there, as was I, and the Taoiseach was there talking about this vision for the Cork docklands. My serious concern is when what the Minister is proposing today comes in, we may be looking at redesigns of the type of apartment and tenure mix that will be going in there.”
“If the Minister solves the housing crisis, we will be the first people to congratulate him but what he is doing tonight will make matters worse.”
“All I hear the Minister do is give out about local authorities. The buck stops with him. If he truly wants to solve the housing crisis, there are much better ways to do it than what he is doing here today. The dogs in the street know that he is doing this to placate and encourage investment in these properties. He is looking to get in outside money. We have some of the highest rents in the world. If they are not willing to come in and invest in our country now when they can get €2,500 or €3,000, when will they? He is trying to encourage maximum profit but what about the quality of life? What about the cities, towns and villages we are trying to build? What about our communities? A lot of people have spoken. We want to be constructive.”
“The number of vacant, derelict properties with water, electricity, infrastructrure and public transport right outside is an absolute sin. I know the housing crisis cannot be solved overnight - no one is suggesting it can – but what the Minister can do is deliver housing where these services exist. We know Irish Water cannot deliver connections or on wastewater. We know the ESB cannot get them connections as fast as possible but there are thousands of properties - an estimated 164,000 vacant properties not including derelict properties. This is where we could get an easy win and turn them around in a space of months, a year or a year and a half and put them back into use. There are thousands of boarded-up council houses. This is another easy fix. We could turn them around in months.”
“They are 12 sq. m. The units the Minister is looking at are 32 sq. m. Someone will have to pay €2,500 and a fellow who is locked up, a violent criminal, is living somewhere less than 2.5 times the size. How can that be right? People are working every hour God sends. Imagine being one of these people spending every penny they have to live in one of these bedsits and they have nowhere to meet their neighbours or to share. Think of the mental damage to individuals who will be trapped, because that is what they will be. They will be trapped there. They will go from the box bedroom of their parents house into one of the Minister's “initiatives” to solve the housing crisis. I said to the Minister yesterday, and I said it to him last week, that I invite him to walk around Dublin with me and Opposition spokespersons on housing.”
“I believe the other speakers are right that this will actually slow down delivery. Existing planning permissions will go back to redesign to see what the maximum number that developers can get in to maximise their profits. Remember, they will maximise their profits because they will be able to maximise the number of units, but they are not allowed to increase the shared space. People will be piled into developments with no ability to build communities. Mixed tenure has been proven to be the best way forward - one, two and three bedrooms, and single people, people with disabilities, couples with no kids, couples with kids and single people with kids. We are trying to build a community that represents the society outside but this is jamming people into bedsits. That is what we are talking about. I looked at the new prison cells.”
“When people look back at the decisions taken by the Minister and the Government on this legislation, academics and the people who end up living in these tiny apartments will ask what was going through their minds. Who made this decision? I will give an example of how governments get it wrong. I come from Knocknaheeny. When Knocknaheeny was built 50 years ago, perhaps because of the financial situation of the country, it was decided to build the houses 20% smaller with substandard building materials. That decision was taken. Now Knocknaheeny has been undergoing regeneration since 2000. The houses were 25 years old when they had to start that and now we are 25 years into it. All that is because bad decisions were taken at the time. The Minister has to step back from this, if he is really serious.”
“Eighteen years ago, he stood up for his community because he believed it to be under attack. He did not do so because it would win votes. He did so because he had a vision of this island that was inclusive, welcoming and equal to all. Republican LGBTQI activist Seán Garland from Belfast said: "You cannot just stand for a certain section of liberty. You must defend the liberation of the whole nation." Ní neart go cur le chéile. There is no strength without unity.”
“In recent years, I have spoken to members of the LGBTQI community in Cork. They have told me they feel less safe on the streets now, which is a shocking thing to hear. We need to tackle that. In 2006 in Derry, there was an upsurge in homophobic attacks. The following year, the then junior minister, Ian Paisley Junior MLA, gave an interview to Hot Press in which he said he was repulsed by homosexuality. Can you imagine a junior minister saying that? In response, Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness MLA, launched Gay Pride in Derry. In the first year, homophobic attacks reduced by 80%. That is what political leadership can do. That is what Pride can do when people stand together. I am proud to be a part of a party for which Martin McGuinness led the way.”
“As the Minister of State knows, Pride is a protest. In recent years, we have seen companies and large multinationals join Pride. In many ways, that has been welcome and positive for those who work in those companies. It sends out a positive message that they are accepted and recognised as a part of these companies, and that their workplaces are safe. That is a good thing for those people. However, in all the positivity, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Pride is a protest. There are Irishmen walking the streets today who were previously convicted of being gay. We must protest that, and change it. When our trans brothers and sisters are attacked in the British courts and the American Parliament, we must protest. When young gay men and women are attacked on our streets, we must protest.”
“When someone seriously ill gets into the system, he or she will be taken care of but an uncle of mine died recently who suffered four years of pain. His name was John McCarthy. He is survived by his wife Noreen and his sons John, Mark and Stephen. He suffered in pain for four years. I wrote to the HSE and the Mercy hospital. One month before he died, I got correspondence telling me that John was not a priority and that his case was not severe. Four weeks later, he was dead. There needs to be accountability and transparency for John, his family and all the other people who, unfortunately, are failed by the HSE.”
“Turning to primary care centres and value for money, Fine Gael has wanted to privatise everything since coming to power. Over €20 million will be paid over the next 20 years for Ballincollig primary care centre, yet the State will not own it. We still have no primary care centres in Blarney, Mayfield and Glanmire. They have been hit by delay after delay. They have also been privately contracted. From what I can see, no primary care centres will be delivered in Cork unless it is by a private contractor. I thank all the front-line workers - doctors, nurses, other medical staff, people in the canteen and cleaners - in every section of our hospitals. Fortunately, I survived sepsis and cancer in recent years and, touch wood, I will be able to keep going. The workers have done brilliant work.”
“I received an answer through freedom of information that the head of primary care did not know who had sanctioned it. She did not know who made the decision. I then asked the head of the HSE in the south west but he did not know who had made the decision. I spent two months writing letters trying to find answers and I still cannot get one. The HSE is paying full whack to SouthDoc even though SouthDoc in Blackpool is closed. This is not me saying it. The figures I received from the Department say it. The people of the northside in Cork North-Central cannot get access to an out-of-hours service unless they drive across the city. The Minister is talking about accountability and transparency. These are the facts on the ground.”
“There are 121 people in the HR department in the south west. The Minister talks about progressing this Bill, but I believe it is bluff and smoke and mirrors. It is trying to pretend that there will be proper accountability and value for money in the HSE. Even though 121 people are working in the HR department in the south west, €250,000 was paid to private consultants in 2023. Who brought this private firm in and why was it brought in? Why is this work not being done by the staff there? They are capable and well able to do their jobs. This is like so many other issues within the HSE. We cannot get answers or accountability. The HSE refuses to answer straightforward and simple questions. I asked who had made the decision to close SouthDoc in Blackpool in Cork.”
“This is something the Government has done for the last number of years. It has stripped services out of the north side of Cork city, whether it is dental services or doctors. We are waiting for primary care centres. There is no primary care centre in Glanmire, Mayfield or Blarney. What we have now are waiting lists for children to be seen. We are talking about dental services here. There is a two-tier system in this State where if people have money, their children will get the care they need and if they do not have money, they go on a waiting list for years. I have spoken to parents whose children were so long on the system waiting to get treatment that they became adults. How can that be right? Then once they become adults, they are not entitled to the care and they have to go on a different list.”
“I will just give the Minister of State some figures. Before Covid-19, in the first quarter of 2019, 5,175 children got dental screenings in Cork city. In the first quarter of this year, it was 4,938. There were fewer children seen in the first quarter of 2025 than there were in the first quarter of 2019. We must factor in that during the Covid years, screening went below 2,500. There is a crisis now in dental care for children in this State and there seems to be no plan to deal with it. In an area I represent in Cork city, Mayfield, the Government closed Harrington Square and the centre at the COPE Foundation where dental services were provided. Now children in that part of the city, in Ballyphehane, the Glen, Mayfield and Glanmire, must travel to the other side of the city to get services. How can that be right?”
“In politics, we politically disagree on many issues. Can we not come together on this issue? Can we not park the politics and for once let the women of Ireland be listened to? For far too long, they were sent home to suffer in silence, but no longer.”
“These people want her to lead the way. As a woman and as Minister for Health, she has the ability to do that. I implore her to do it. There are girls who have given up sport and who cannot go to school. Education is needed here. There are girls and women who every month cannot go to work or are out of work for long periods. They have lost their jobs and lost their friends, because they have not been able to go to things. They have not been able to socialise. They have been trapped in their rooms in pain. For all these girls and young women, what we are proposing tonight does not come from Sinn Féin but from all these people up in the Public Gallery and their families who live this every day. I ask the Minister to withdraw her amendment and to run with this motion.”
“There were women in the Public Gallery tonight. I spoke with some of them earlier and listened to their stories. A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting in Cork where people told their horrific stories. Here I am a 6 ft 5 in. man talking about women's health and women's period pains. I have no idea. I believe the Minister is a decent person so I ask her not to let the bureaucracy, the Department or the men in this Government tell her to put down an amendment. She should be backing this motion wholeheartedly. She should be leading the way.”
“I hope this Government has learned from that and the mistakes of the past will not be made again. I was at an event last year where I met a fella I went to school with. There was a Christian Brother convicted of abuse and he pleaded guilty - Brother Brian in the North Monastery. I was in the same year as this lad who was abused by this Christian Brother who went to jail. He is lucky he has a great wife and a great family. He and all these victims need support. Some of them have had to do it alone and that is not right.”