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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“I spoke to a mother and baby home survivor who said that every time she walks into a shop and sees the newspaper headlines or turns on the news, she is retraumatised and it brings it all back. There can be no more delays. This has to be moved on. I think everyone is of one mind that this work is really important and needs to be done. It should be borne in mind how difficult it will be for the survivors. They cannot be left waiting for answers. A lady contacted me last year who also falls under this commission of investigation. She said she was a damaged person. She has worked hard and done very well but she still suffers greatly. She deserves justice. Justice delayed is justice denied. Unfortunately, we have seen the cruelty of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in the mother and baby home redress schemes.”
“A couple of days ago, I got a phone call from a guy I knew. He saw the Minister talk about the commission of investigation. His voice was very low when I was talking to him. A member of his family was in the house and he did not want them to hear what he was talking to me about because of the shame and stigma that are still there. He did nothing wrong; he is a victim and a survivor. People want justice and for their voices to be heard. Why has this taken so long? This man said he is not looking for anything; he wants his voice and his story to be heard. He is looking for justice. He is an exceptionally brave person, like everyone else who has been a victim of this abuse. The new commission of investigation will be a relief to many but it will also bring back the trauma of what they went through.”
“-----are living in hell. Does the Tánaiste know that if they do not get here now, some of them will not be around for the next one because some of them will probably be slaughtered by the Israelis? I am pleading with the Tánaiste. I am begging him now-----”
“Does he want to let these children come here? I remember going up to the Six Counties as a young fella to play hurling and football and I remember them coming to Cork to stay in my house and with my club, St. Vincent's. I remember what it was like. However, these 33 children-----”
“I wish to correct a comment the Tánaiste made earlier. Israeli citizens do not need a visa to enter Ireland to stay up to 90 days for tourism, visiting family or friends or attending business. In other words, there is apartheid operating in this country as well, whereby people in Palestine, which Israel considers part of Israel, need to jump through every hoop in the book to get into this country, whereas Israeli citizens do not. That is from the Department of justice. Those are the facts. The Tánaiste has the power. He is the Tánaiste and the Minister for foreign affairs. He can deliver this. I spoke to GAA Palestine this morning. It has hundreds of volunteers and will do whatever it takes between now and the weekend to get these children the visas they require. Let us be honest here. Does the Tánaiste have the will?”
“During the local election campaign, councillors and candidates from Government parties were out talking about the need for the community centre. Were these more false promises made at election time which are not then delivered? If an application is made by Cork City Council and the community, will the Minister commit to fund a new community centre in Ballyvolane?”
“A new development is going up in Lahardane with hundreds of homes. There is to be a site there for a specific building for a community centre. You could not swing a cat in it, no disrespect. What we want is a proper community centre delivered for the people of Ballyvolane, for the existing residents and the new residents who will come there. We want to see services provided in the community. I was recently at a meeting with other TDs and councillors from the ward where it was outlined that a scoping exercise was going on. I am asking that when a plan is delivered by Cork City Council and the Ballyvolane community, the Minister and the Government give a commitment that the money will finally be there to deliver it.”
“Here we are talking about expanding Ballyvolane, building more houses and getting more people to live there and there is nothing for the children or the community. It has to be delivered.”
“I thank the Minister for his response but, unfortunately, once again there is nothing there for Ballyvolane. He made the point there has been no application. I have been hearing about a community centre in Ballyvolane for decades. I have attended meetings. How was a community centre not given funding or prioritised in all that time? Over 2,000 houses are planned for the Ballyvolane area on top of the hundreds of houses that are there already. How is it possible to build thousands of houses and not put in the infrastructure and resources at the time? Ballyvolane has been identified as an area for potential future population growth and the possibility of a new district centre under the Cork city development plan.”
“Ballyvolane is a fabulous community. For decades it has been promised a community centre and for decades Government promises have failed to deliver. Will the Minister outline supports and when the community centre will finally be delivered for Ballyvolane?”
“Reporting mechanisms, collection of data, transparency and knowing what is happening are at the heart of this motion. We have to ensure that genuine actors who want to develop and deliver units - houses and apartments - can do that with support, but we also have to prevent people coming in to speculate. By collecting this data, we will all know what is happening, as will the public. That is why it is an important amendment. The Minister might not take it on but he certainly could look at it.”
“We have a site off Shandon Street, Gurranabraher, just behind where I live, the old Connie Donovan's pub site. It was bought, planning went in for it and it was flipped. They put up the metal beams and the foundation and it has been like that for 15 years. Speculators cannot be allowed to get away with profiteering and damn the community. We need timelines to make sure this does not happen. Eighteen months, as Deputy Ó Broin said, is too long.”
“Now planning permission has finally been applied for and granted but there have been a number of fires on the site. Fire brigades have had to be called out and first responders put at risk because speculators only cared about maximising profits. The community around it in Blarney Street and Sunday's Well have had to put up with constant fires. If the Minister googles it, he will see. Every year, fire after fire. What was a protected building is now a shell; it had to be semi-demolished because it was a danger, all because speculators were allowed to get away with this. This is not an isolated incident. We have seen this in other sites in Cork. The LDA has gone into the St. Kevin's site and is turning it into housing. For 20 years, that was left idle and left to be destroyed.”
“I support my colleague. We are talking about increasing timelines and giving extensions. I will provide an example. The Good Shepherd Convent in Cork was originally bought by UCC to be developed for, I think, about €4.5 million. It changed hands a couple of times. At the height of the Celtic tiger it was sold for €20 million. Afterwards, it was bought by a Drogheda-based company, Moneda. That company went for planning permission in December 2017, got planning permission and then flipped it. The site has still not had a blade of grass turned - nothing. It was complete speculation. This site in the heart of Cork city has for the last 20 years seen speculation after speculation, then the property crash and then back to speculation again.”
“The captains of industry and these big companies are making obscene profits and the Government is standing idly by like the Government stands idly by on so many things, because this Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is more interested in protecting big business, speculators and profiteers than it is in looking after the ordinary man and woman in the street, the ordinary person who needs protection. It is time that the Minister of State acts.”
“How is that a right way for parents to have to react to look after their families? They have no choice. Christy Moore's song "Ordinary Man" has a line: Well it seems to me such a cruel irony He's richer now than ever he was before The captains of industry are richer now than ever before, while ordinary people are forced to penny-pinch and cut back on luxuries to afford the most basic necessities. Christy Moore wrote that song years ago. It was as true then as it is now.”
“The price of butter has risen, according to the CSO, by 58% in 12 months. A staple in every house in the country has risen by nearly 60%. The CSO consumer price index shows that the prices of the most basic items have increased and the Government is doing nothing about it. For pensioners, those with disabilities, people with low incomes and families, this makes a difference between whether people go hungry or not. It is not just the most vulnerable in society. It is now hitting middle-class families and forcing people to make choices who never thought they were going to have to make choices, but now they do. Does the Minister of State know what is happening now? People are not shopping to put food on the table which is good for them or their kids, but they are shopping to buy the cheapest, whether it is the right food or not.”
“Instead, developers speculate on the land and try to flip it. The problem is that this leaves local authorities and utility companies in a very difficult position. Where there is a limited capacity and that capacity has been allocated to a planning permission, it means future or other planning permissions cannot go ahead. It then becomes a blockage to delivery. That is why, when planning permissions are in place, we need them to be delivered. We want to come up with solutions. We want this to deliver. I believe this is a missed opportunity by the Government. What we should have had is more emphasis on time, financing, resources, local authority planning departments and the resourcing of An Bord Pleanála. The Minister has missed a shot here.”
“What we do not want is further speculation and what we cannot allow is that potential homes are not built. To have uncommenced planning permissions is costly and a huge barrier to delivering homes that people desperately need. I think of all the funding that has gone into the granting of planning permission, whether in regard to the planners, the local authority, the technology, the newspapers or the communities. At the same time, local communities are making submissions and engaging in good faith, and they want to see development. They want to make sure that it is sustainable development that is best suited to their community. This takes up a lot of time at public meetings, committees and draft submissions and, therefore, once planning is granted, the expectation is that houses will be built.”
“The planning permission was granted but nothing has been built since. They got the planning permission because it made the site more valuable and then they flipped it for more money. It was about speculators making profit. Just to let people know, that site has been burned down numerous times and the building has been destroyed. I think of the people who live around it. I think of the consequences for firefighters and first responders who have had to go out to that site constantly, putting their lives on the line while speculators are laughing all the way to the bank. We agree there are circumstances where planning permission can be extended but we need accountability. We need to know why developers are looking for an extension. We want homes built and we want delivery.”
“Local authorities are another great one for backbenchers to get up and blame, while forgetting that the parties opposite have been in government for ten and 15 years, respectively. The Government tries to focus the blame on the Opposition. The usual question from the Government is to ask where the solutions are. Then, every week or second week, we bring forward constructive solutions that we hope the Government will take on board, and it does not. It is time to stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility. Tens of thousands of homes could be built in this State. They have planning permission right now but, instead, the land is being used for speculation and no building is happening. I will give an example from Cork. The Good Shepherd convent site, which had been idle for years, got planning permission in 2017.”
“What we do not want, but what I think will happen, is that in 12 months' time, we will be back here again with more legislation to fix the problems in this Bill because it has been rushed. The Government has spent time trying to scapegoat and blame everyone else for the housing crisis. It is trying to blame the planners and it wants to hear from them. It is too busy trying to scapegoat people. Uisce Éireann is a great crowd to blame because it can be blamed for everything. Do not get me wrong. It has a lot to answer for, but that is because of years of neglect and underinvestment. Even now, when Uisce Éireann is looking for €2 billion to make sure there is water to deliver the housing we need, that money still has not been granted.”
“I sat in the housing committee with the Minister of State last year when the planning Bill was pushed through. We warned at the time of the consequences when the Government rushes through complex and serious legislation. Here we are now, 12 months on, trying to fix the errors. Why is there always a rush when dealing with complex legislation? Instead of learning from the mistakes of the past, the Government is pushing this legislation through with no committee oversight or pre-legislative scrutiny. Once again, the Government is trying to rush through planning legislation without giving enough time for security or allowing experts in the field to analyse it and point out unforeseen circumstances that the Minister or the Department did not see.”
“A nursing home owned by the State, Heather House at St. Mary's health campus in Gurranabraher, had a brand new dementia unit built and it has been lying empty for over a year because of a lack of resources and staff. At a time when people are crying out for dementia places in nursing homes the Heather House dementia unit is lying idle. The Minister of State needs to act on that.”
“How many other nursing homes are operating in the same manner? One of the hardest decisions a person or family can ever make is to put someone into a nursing home. Recently, a member of my family who is sick had to go into a nursing home while recovering. We could only visit between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. That is no good for anyone who is working. I am lucky we have a good family and people are flexible and able to manage things. In the hospital, we were only allowed visits from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., so there were no visits during the day. We should encourage more people to visit vulnerable people, not reduce access to them. All of this is coming about because of a privatisation agenda that Fine Gael, supported by Fianna Fáil, has driven for decades. We see money and profit being put before people. How can that be right?”
“There will have to be a proper, full, open and honest inquiry, not an inquiry that is going to pay people, but an inquiry to get to the facts of what happened so that these people can have their stories and voices heard. The "RTÉ Investigates" programme was horrendous. Care Champions told us the organisation is not surprised but, based on what it has found out in its own investigations, it is surprised that other people are surprised. The scenes in the programme were absolutely disgusting. Some 200 complaints were made against one nursing home, yet it took RTÉ to highlight the issue, and fair play to it. RTÉ can be criticised at times, sometimes rightly, but in this case its journalists did really important work to try to protect vulnerable older people when the State and HIQA were letting them down. Action needs to be taken.”
“The Care Champions just want to work with the Government and the Opposition so that people in nursing homes or hospitals, vulnerable older people and vulnerable sick or disabled people are not let down the way they were let down. To listen to their stories and hear how they feel about what happened to their families was just heartbreaking. They have made freedom of information requests, they have looked for meetings, and they have looked for the Government to implement the changes that were supposed to come about after what happened during the Covid-19 crisis. This has not happened. The Government is now talking about an inquiry.”
“In recent years, I have had the privilege to work with Pat Coyle and the Care Champions, a group that came into existence because of what happened to their loved ones during the Covid pandemic and how badly they were treated. Their stories are heartbreaking. I have witnessed the guilt and the hurt they feel because of the way their loved ones were treated. They feel their loved ones were abandoned. Care Champions and Pat Coyle have tried to engage with the Government in a constructive manner. They are not about pointing fingers of blame. They want to ensure that what happened to their loved ones will never happen to anyone again. They want to be positive and constructive, not negative.”
“I do not want it to get to 5,000 and I do not think the Minister does either, but 5,000 children will be homeless in the lifetime of this Government. We were in here two weeks ago with a cross-party proposal in relation to the Raise the Roof rally and fixing the housing emergency. This is an emergency and the Minister is not treating it like one. I ask him sincerely to grab this Government and say, "This is a housing emergency, so stand up and deliver the solutions that we need."”
“The Minister talks about local authorities delivering on target and delivering social housing and cost-rental and affordable housing. Cork City Council is probably one of the best local authorities in the State for delivering social and cost-rental and affordable housing, and yet the housing list goes up. It is because the Minister's Government has set targets so low that even when local authorities do hit the targets they are supposed to hit, the numbers of people looking for social housing are going up. The homelessness figures are going up every month. I believe the figure we are at now is 4,844 children, off the top of my head. I asked the Minister's predecessor, Darragh O'Brien, how many children must become homeless before he and this Government will accept that the policy has failed.”
“I ask the Minister to reverse the decisions taken by Fianna Fáil in the 1990s to take local authorities out of building homes and to return us to a system that worked. On a final point, the Government slashed funding to the tenant in situ scheme. I am dealing with families who are still feeling the effects of that.”
“In response to an earlier question, the Minister made a comment about bringing forward solutions. We can come in here and fight every week - we could fight for the next five years - but we have taken the decision to come in and try to work with the Government and bring forward solutions. Three weeks ago, I brought forward a solution. While it will not fix the housing crisis, it would bring in thousands of empty and boarded-up council houses that are owned by the State. We now own enough boarded-up council properties that we could house every family living in homelessness accommodation. That could be achieved. All we need is funding and staffing for local authorities. We also need local authorities to get back to building houses directly.”
“All it does is reduce rents by 25% for unbelievably expensive properties. Affordability means that people can afford to rent. It is not that someone's rent is 25% below the market value. A lot of people cannot afford these rents.”
“The Minister referred to people on moderate incomes and viability. There are people who cannot get on the social housing list because they earn too much, but they are not earning enough to qualify for cost rental because the rent is more than one third of their income. Individuals, couples and families are trapped in the middle. They are earning too much for social housing and not enough for cost-rental or affordable housing. What is the Government going to do about that? How will it help those people? The Government put those rents in place. The Minister referred to rents which are 25% below the market value. Last week, the Government made a decision to drive rents up over the next number of years with its housing policy. Rents which are 25% below market value do not make a cost-rental property affordable.”
“The Minister stated the Government has delivered 3,600 units. That sums up its delivery. There were no cost-rental units in 2020. There were 65 in 2021, 684 in 2022, 869 in 2023 and 2,027 last year. That is still below the Government's targets. The Government has never delivered and has in fact missed every target it has set over the past four or five years. On top of that, in respect of so-called affordable cost rental properties, in O'Devaney Gardens tenants are paying from €1,490 to €1,900. In Donabate, they are paying between €1,327 and €1,547. In Lota More, Cork, rents are between €1,200 and €1,407. It is not affordable if people are paying more than a third of their income in rent, no matter what the Government wants to call it.”
“There was no section within housing to tackle dereliction until we came at it non-stop over recent years and now there is. There is one person in each local authority - one person. Would the Government not give the local authorities the funding to hire the staff to do the work? The Minister of State spoke about a fund of €150 million. Why are there so many derelict buildings? Will he answer that?”
“The facts are the facts. There are derelict sites in every town, village and city in this State. Between them, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in government for between ten and 14 years. These are the facts. I am not making this up. If the Minister of State wants to walk down the street with me, I will walk down with the three Ministers and a couple of Members of the Opposition and we will show him the dereliction. The Minister of State should not come in here and say he is doing this and he is doing that. There is unbelievable dereliction, which is destroying communities, and he says the onus is on local authorities. I recall the pressure that myself and Deputy Ó Broin in opposition put on the previous Government.”
“If one walks out of here and walks down the quays of Dublin, one will see the dereliction so how can one say things are being done? It is a scandal. There is a place on North Main Street in Cork that is falling down around us. Cork City Council has tried to CPO it but the landlord is blocking it. It is a scandal.”
“The Minister of State and I sat on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for four years. There are local authorities that will not put sites on the derelict sites register; some local authorities will not impose the levy, which is the law; and other local authorities will not collect the levy. Millions of euro are owed on derelict sites on the register but there are more sites that have not been put on it. This Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government has allowed local authorities to not enforce the law. If a man parks his car illegally outside this House and gets a ticket, he has to pay it but the Government believes that a building falling down in the centre of Dublin, Cork, Waterford or Limerick should attract no attention.”
“I wish to ask the Minister about the derelict sites levies that have been levied, collected and owed; the number of sites subject to a CPO in the previous 12 months; the number of sites for which a levy was applied; and the number of sites on the register on 31 December 2024, by local authority.”
“How many private contractors or suppliers have not been paid by the trust arising from its near collapse? What is the value of these liabilities and what are the Minister and the Department going to do to ensure these liabilities are cleared and paid off?”
“I asked the Minister a couple of questions and he answered none of them. Why is 100% of the funding not being given to homelessness service providers? Why are they put into a bidding war with each other in trying to provide homelessness services for people? Was there any oversight of what was happening? There had to be a €15 million bailout of the Peter McVerry Trust, a trust that was set up to support homeless people. Government policy over the years has been to farm these services out and to do a Pontius Pilate and wash its hands of it. We need funding now. What we should have is funding to 100% and providers given the support they need to provide the services. What changes does the Minister intend to make to ensure this does not happen again? I know he said a report is coming shortly.”
“The Peter McVerry Trust almost went bankrupt in the summer of 2023. The core issue was the use of capital funding to cross-subsidise the day-to-day running costs of the organisation. It ran up a liability of almost €20 million. There have been two independent regulator reports on the issues. It is totally unacceptable that the provision of homelessness services has been privatised and commercialised out. Why is 100% of the funding not given? Why is it 90%? Why is it that homelessness service providers must outbid each other? What is that about? It is the Government's responsibility to look after homeless people and provide emergency accommodation and services. Why is the Government not doing this? Why has it been turned into a commercial system where providers are pitted against each other? This was always going to happen.”
“I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Eoin Ó Broin. Will the Minister provide an update on the review of section 10 funding for homelessness service providers and the changes he intends to make to this funding stream in light of the near financial collapse of an organisation in 2023?”
“Pádraig Pearse stood on the steps of the GPO, read one of the greatest documents in the history of the world - I am not exaggerating - and outlined the vision that he and his comrades had. The Government is talking about turning the GPO into a retail space. Dr. Kathleen Lynn, another lady the Government has tried to erase from history, wrote in her diary about the men who were shot following the 1916 Rising: "God bless them, they did not fear to die for Ireland". This Government would do well to remember that.”
“The people do not trust the Government to honour the patriot dead, the men and women and their families. Those families must be remembered. The volunteers and heroes died but their families had to live on through the pain and suffering. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have disrespected those men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice. The Minister comes in here and talks about turning it into a retail space. My God, man. It is the heart and soul of the Irish people and of this country. Does the Government not understand what it means to the ordinary men, women and children in the street? Right now, tens of thousands of Irish people are emigrating to the four corners of the world. The one thing they all know is that on Easter weekend of 1916, Irishmen and Irishwomen stood up and fought, and led a cause for Irish freedom.”
“I know the Government is trying to do certain things but it is only a drop in the ocean. We have an emergency in special education. Scoil Eoin in Ballincollig is looking for three additional ASD classes. Some children who go to the school have brothers or sisters who may be on the spectrum but these children cannot go to the school. How can that be right?”
“Why must parents fight for everything when they have a child with additional needs or a child with a disability? What is this Government going to say to them? Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have jumped from one fire to another when it comes to children with disabilities. Parents have stood outside this Dáil and camped overnight here. They have led marches and protests, fighting for school places and therapies to help their children. These children deserve to reach their potential. By not having the services, school places and assessments of need, these children will not reach their potential. The Government is ignoring the law when it comes to those children. Children with additional needs are some of the most vulnerable in the State. I plead with the Minister of State and the Government to deliver because it is time.”
“I know families who are living in the heart of the city, in Farranree, Gurranabraher and Ballyphehane, whose children will have to travel to Fermoy. These are children with additional needs. Some of them are going in the opposite direction, down to Rochestown or Carrigaline. They are spending on average of 45 minutes travelling each way. Surely these children should be getting the education where they live. We have pre-verbal children who have never had speech and language therapists. Parents are fighting for everything. They cannot even get basic hygiene supplies for their children. Surely this is just a given. Parents should just have to ask for this and it should be given to them. The most vulnerable children are being let down again. Parents are asking me why they must fight for everything.”
“I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and I appreciate him letting me speak. The results of this report are no surprise to parents or anyone involved with special education in Cork city. This Government and previous Governments have failed children with additional needs. Schools like Scoil Íosagáin in Farranree are crying out for additional autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes. Rathcormac National School is crying out for special needs classes, having been passed. I hear from parents whose children now must go into mainstream education because there are not enough places, or no places, in the schools they attend. A new special school was promised in September for Carrignavar. Due to issues, this will probably not be delivered until next year. The children will have to travel from Fermoy.”