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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“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael allowed that to happen and allowed it to be enforced. Here we are with legislation. Looking back, workers stood up when the Government failed to stand up. What happened to the Debenhams workers was nothing short of a disgrace. They were a group of low-paid workers, mainly women, who had to stand up and fight because the Government had failed for years to bring forward legislation to protect them. When it came to workers' rights, everyone else was ahead of them. What Debenhams did was corruption. It knew what it was doing. It stripped the Irish stores of their assets. The workers proved this. They went to KPMG with documentation and they went to court, but because of our legal system and the lack of legislation, they were sold down the river.”
“I am proud to stand here to discuss and remember what the Debenhams workers went through under this Government. I know people will say this is a new Government but Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were in the last Government. The Debenhams workers stood up for their rights for 406 days. Government TDs stood in the picket lines with them. I was there and those TDs spoke about what they were going to do. That went on for 406 days. Then the Garda was brought in to enforce the removal of stock. It was absolutely shameful. I talked to gardaí who did not want to be there and wanted to stand with the workers. That was the craziness of the situation; the gardaí wanted to be on the picket line with the workers because they know these people. They come from the same communities.”
“It should be noted that the Government benches are empty. For months, this House had a huge issue with speaking rights. I heard Government TDs, spokespersons and senior officials say on radio and television that they did not have speaking time and were being discriminated against. It is funny that when we are discussing workers' rights-----”
“There is blood on the hands of the Americans, British, French, Germans and all the other countries that sell weapons and bombs to Israel. Why should we be complicit in the selling of bonds to give Israel money to buy those weapons? Will the Minister not stand with us? Will he not stand with the Irish people and tell the Israelis that we will not turn a blind eye to what is happening and not turn our backs on the people of Palestine? For the love of God, will the Government not support the Bill?”
“I acknowledge that this Government has done more than many governments in relation to what has been said on Palestine and through recognising Palestine. Earlier, I listened to the Tánaiste speak about the Labour Party's motion and state he would work constructively with the party. I welcome that, but yesterday we heard in this Chamber a disgraceful speech by the Minister about why he was opposing Sinn Féin’s Bill on the sale of Israeli bonds – blood money to pay for the slaughter of innocent men, women and children in Gaza. Therefore, for all the work this Government thinks it is doing, its not standing against the sale of the bonds in this country makes it complicit in genocide. That is a fact. Will the Government not stand up and make it unequivocal that Ireland will not be a haven for the Israeli war bonds and blood money?”
“How could it happen? There are serious questions about private healthcare. Something radical needs to be done. Every year or every second year, we have scandal after scandal. When will it stop? I know from personal experience what it is like to have a sick child. I know from personal experience what it is like to be failed. The vast majority of doctors and consultants do a brilliant job, but some of them do not.”
“Every person whose child has ever had hip surgery now has serious questions. It is unbelievable that this has happened. Time and again, this State failed the most vulnerable children, including thalidomide survivors, those with scoliosis, those from mother and baby homes and children with disabilities. We had a child outside Leinster House last week campaigning for the legal right to assessments of needs because our Government will not deliver what was promised. Every child, no matter what his or her age now, who could be or who was affected by these unnecessary operations or who does not know if the procedures they underwent were unnecessary must be included in the process and have his or her voice heard. Where was the oversight? Where were the checks and balances? How could this happen? There are hundreds of children.”
“I express my gratitude and the gratitude of everyone to the whistleblower who came forward with this information. Parents need answers. Children must come first in this whole process. There needs to be open transparency and accountability. Children must have the follow-up care they need. Some 80% of the hip surgeries in Cappagh and 60% of the hip surgeries in Temple Street were unnecessary. That is just unbelievable. It is unimaginable that this number of surgeries that were not needed were carried out on children. Every figure represents a child. The Department was notified in May of last year and began the audit last summer. It is nearly June and people still do not have answers. They still do not know if their children needed surgery or not. In Cork, there are 32 families waiting for answers.”
“That was the fourth major fire there. There have been a dozen or so other fires at the site. Someone could have been killed. The derelict sites levy is not being enforced. There are two buildings on Narrow West Street in Drogheda that are crumbling and that people are afraid to walk past. The levy is not being enforced.”
“Local authorities have a legal obligation to enforce the Derelict Sites Act. They are not doing it. Deputies Browne and Cummins are the Ministers responsible. It is as simple as that. This is a legal obligation which local authorities have and which is not being enforced. Local authorities also tell me that they do not have the staff or resources to do this work. In reply to a question I put to him, the previous Minister informed me that he had initiated a CPO activation programme but that no data was collected to see how successful it had been. In the context of derelict sites, in recent days the roof of a cottage in Ranelagh in Dublin collapsed. A total of €140,000 in levies is owed on that site alone. Why was that money not collected and why was there no enforcement? In Cork, Good Shepherd Convent burnt down a few weeks ago.”
“Here we are, years later, and land hoarders are laughing at us and at the people in the communities where they are these sites are lying idle.”
“As the Minister of State said, the latest figures he has are for 2023. The new figures will arrive e shortly. As the Minister of State outlined, there are 1,913 derelict sites on the register. What is shocking is that only one in three have been levied. Thirteen local authorities applied no levy. Seventeen did not collect even one cent. In 2023, local authorities that applied the levies sought €5.6 million in payment of those levies. How much was collected? A total of €600,000. A total of €20.5 million is currently owed for the derelict sites levy. I talk to local authorities. Some do not want to engage with the system. The Minister of State was on the housing committee with me. I asked him what he was going to do.”
“Will the Minister of State provide an update on the amount collected by means of the derelict sites levy in 2024? We know that the derelict sites register and the derelict sites levy together constitute one of the only ways to get at landlords who are hoarding properties and letting them fall into rack and ruin.”
“I am pleading with the Minister to allocate that extra funding, not only to Cork City Council but to Dublin, Limerick and Kildare. I have been contacted by local authorities right across the State. They need that money.”
“The Minister outlined the amount of money given to the tenant in situ scheme. Two weeks ago, I raised with the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, the 33 families in Cork whose houses were sale agreed. Cork City Council was going to buy the houses but on 4 April it informed Cork City Council councillors that there was no money left to go ahead. I was told the Government was going to consider it and talk to people about it. Yesterday, I spoke to a lady, Amy, who was meant to be out of her house in February. It was supposed to be purchased in April. She got an email two weeks ago telling her and the landlord it was not going ahead and that she had to be out of the house at the end of May. There are 44 adults and 26 children who will be homeless in the next couple of weeks if that money is not given.”
“In 2021, the then Minister said it and that the maintenance scheme would be put in place in 2022 and 2023. The Government said that. Is the Minister of State now disagreeing with what the previous Minister said? We are looking for facts and figures. When will the surveys be done? I have some figures, so I will give the Minister of State an idea of the allocations. The Government is allocating €67.23 per house for local authorities to do a stock maintenance and planning survey.”
“I thank the Minister of State. He said the majority of local authorities were carrying these surveys out. How many local authorities have carried them out? How much of the stock has been surveyed? Are there available figures that the Minister of State can provide me? Cork City Council has 11,000 properties. As far as I know, no stock survey has been done and the Government want to get rid of the voids programme.”
“I was in Kevin Street flats and Pearse Street flats yesterday. It is a disgrace that the Government is not giving the money. There 79 apartments between the two blocks that are empty right now. Across the whole State, there are more than 4,000 board-up houses and the Government has only allocated enough to do less than half - 45% - yet the Minister of State is talking about planned maintenance.”
“On 11 November 2021, the former Minister informed me in a parliamentary question answer that the stock audit would take place across all local authorities and would take four to five years. As the Minister of State pointed out, that would have allowed for a planned maintenance programme for 2022 and 2023 - we are at least two, if not three, years behind schedule - and the voids programme to end. The Minister of State just commented on the voids programme. A maximum of only €11,000 can be claimed per unit under it. Local authorities are leaving the voids, or boarded-up houses, as they should be called, empty for years, destroying communities, causing dirt and antisocial behaviour, and affecting the environment people are living in all because the Government will not give the money.”
“What this Bill would do is it would safeguard and protect people when it comes to having clean drinking water. Sinn Féin is also hoping that this Bill would put communication at the heart of Uisce Éireann's job.”
“Uisce Éireann says it has a register of vulnerable customers, but it does not communicate with them properly. I asked it once about a constituent of mine who has limited sight and other people who are blind and live in my constituency. Uisce Éireann told me to get them to ask their friends and family to fill a jug of water and put it in the fridge for them. That is not a response. How is Uisce Éireann protecting vulnerable people with that? Must those vulnerable people always wait for neighbours, family or friends to come around? I know Deputies O'Rourke and Guirke have had huge issues in their constituencies with water outages and subsequent problems with communication. I have had the same problems myself. We have a huge problem in Cork with brown, dirty and unsafe water. Uisce Éireann is failing to communicate.”
“Members go in and out of the Chamber turning their mobile phones on and off. These things happen and I apologise. I commend my colleagues, especially Deputy O'Rourke, on the work they have done on this Bill. Deputy O'Rourke saw a problem and is putting forward solutions. When the Government created Uisce Éireann, it built a company that was so allergic to transparency and accountability it is like a fortress. It is impossible sometimes to get information from it. It takes months to get answers to basic questions. It refused to properly communicate with this Bill. That is the whole point of this - communication is vital when it comes to the supply of water, particularly when there are water outages or when water is not safe to drink. This has a particular impact on vulnerable people.”
“James Connolly once said, "Men perish, but principles live." We have lost many great republicans but their principles live on. Their dedication to workers' rights on this island and to the people who call this island their home is our driving force. We now have a Government that wants to row back on promises it made to workers. It wants to undermine the cause of labour and blame it on tariffs and economics. David Krause once said of Jim Larkin that his aim was to organise unions, not strikes. One hundred and twelve years later, we must still fight for the right to organise. Just as republicans stood against William Martin Murphy and the king of England in 1913, we stand today against the current Government and its kingmaker, Michael Lowry. Patriots know that the cause of labour is the cause of Ireland.”
“I thank Solidarity and People before Profit for introducing this Bill. I am sure Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett is watching this debate closely today. I wish him all the best. I know everyone else feels the same. I am a proud Irish republican and also a proud union member, which I have been all my working life. Republicans and workers right across this island – workers are republicans – are building towards an island based on the ideals of the 1916 Proclamation. When the Citizens' Army stood up for workers, it protected all workers and built a link between the cause of Irish unity and the cause of labour. That is why Sinn Féin stands on the side of workers. It is why workers' rights and equality are entwined in the party's principles and policies. It is why we would deliver a right to organise.”
“In Sarsfield Court, we have a perfect site of nearly 100 acres on the northside of the city next to Glanmire. I wish the Minister every success but the project must be fast-tacked.”
“I sincerely wish the Minister every success. The elective hospital in Cork is supposed to be ready next year. It is now at design stage and will go to planning next year. It is years behind schedule. We were promised an elective hospital 20 years ago. The Minister is new in her role and I cannot land this on her shoulders, but I can land it on the shoulders of the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members who made promises every election year that the new elective hospital would be delivered in Cork. They went missing when the election was over. I will work with the Minister and do everything I can to ensure the new elective hospital in Cork is delivered. The project needs to be fast-tracked. The waiting lists in Cork are absolutely scandalous. The need for this elective hospital and for elective surgeries is absolutely huge.”
“I have seen families in recent weeks and people are coming out of hospital without care packages and wrap-around services in place. That needs to be worked on. People should not be let home unless the care packages are in place. People want to go home, we want to support them at home, but we need to put it around them.”
“The Minister of State has outlined a lot of figures, but from the human point of view, I know a lady who had her own business and who had to work part time to look after her mother. She was sanctioned, she was passed for the hours and they had hours Monday to Friday, but on Saturday and Sunday and in the evening, she had to go in. This is a woman with her own family, and she is travelling to look after her mother. The situation is that it was sanctioned and the hours were passed, but that is not enough. People need the supports. The Minister of State needs to come up with a plan. I am not here to criticise him. I am saying there are people who have had the hours passed but who need help and support and it is not coming.”
“That is what the Government has done. People are praying to God because they know Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael cannot deliver. Why can they not deliver? For a while I thought it was just sheer incompetence but, the more I think about it, the more I believe they do not want to fix the crisis. I firmly believe that. I firmly believe they want to keep house prices and rents up. The vulture funds, the banks and the speculators are all doing well but does the Minister know who is not doing well? It is ordinary people who do not have houses. The only conclusion I can draw is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not want to fix the housing emergency. It is part of their plan and their strategy. It is either that or they are completely incompetent.”
“Where is the funding for the local authorities to recruit the almost 500 staff they need in the planning sections? Where is the plan to sort that out? Where is the funding and the money for An Bord Pleanála to deliver decisions on time and to speed up the process? Once again, the Government has failed. To give the Minister an idea of the situation, I am dealing with a mother who recently contacted me. She is sharing a bed with her adult child. They are seriously overcrowded in the box bedroom they are in. Her child is attending university full-time. There is no space to study or to relax in the house. They have lived this way for 16 years. The Minister has been in government for most of that time. Another lady wrote to me. Does the Minister know what she said? She said she is looking for a miracle because she is looking for a house.”
“For Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers and Ministers to come in here and point the finger at Irish Water is a disgrace. They are the problem. They set it up. They are not funding Irish Water. If we want critical infrastructure, water and wastewater services need to be funded. There is a village in Cork called Carrignavar. A dozen houses were built there over ten years. They are brand-new and ready to go but there is nowhere for the wastewater to go and Cork County Council cannot buy them to house families. Look at what the Government has done with the tenant in situ scheme. It has driven thousands of people across the State to the brink of homelessness. This is not just in Cork, but also in Limerick and Dublin. That is the Government's housing policy.”
“The Minister outlined earlier some of the things this Government is doing but he did not outline the Government's plan to fund critical infrastructure. There is no plan to fund it or to deliver the minimum of 50,000 homes a year we need. There is no commitment to implement the radical strategic reset of housing policy the Government needs to deliver. That was the recommendation of the Housing Commission. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have once again failed to act. The question is "Why?". The Minister's Government blames the planners for being too slow, the ESB for not making connections quickly enough and Irish Water for everything. Do not get me wrong; there are serious problems with Irish Water. However, the Government parties created it. We should have left responsibility with the local authorities and the local water workers.”
“This scheme saved 100 from going into emergency accommodation last year. The Minister of State's policy will potentially put 100 more children into emergency accommodation. Does the Minister of State not get it? Does he not understand? Why has he put limits? People want to live in the houses. They do not want to be homeless. I ask the Minister of State for a straight answer. Will he and the Government give the money to save the 33 families from homelessness? Many more families need a tenant in situ scheme. It is a crazy decision and an absolute disgrace. Shame on the Minister of State. I am asking a straightforward question. Will he give them the money? Yes or no?”
“The Minister of State said he is working closely with others. Annette Hawkins and her child will be homeless next week. She has been living in the house for 21 years and the Minister of State and his Government will be making her homeless next week. Jason Cashman, another man, is going to be homeless next week. He would have been homeless in February but the landlord let him stay there because the landlord thought the house was being bought. We have 33 families who are going to be homeless between now and the summer. Where are they going to go? The Minister of State is talking about discussions, about how it is going to be looked at, his personal opinion and ending long-term homelessness. Homelessness will go through the roof in Cork. Two hundred children are already in emergency accommodation in Cork and Kerry.”
“The Minister of State is wrong. It is not continuing. We have a letter from Cork City Council from 4 April, stating that the tenant in situ scheme has stopped in Cork City Council. We have tenants who went into the council, looking for the forms to apply, and the council would not even give them the forms. It said that it has no money left. I read out where all the money has gone. The Minister of State gave me an answer about €20 million. The €20 million is gone. There is no point talking about money that is spent. There are homes there. I spoke about a lady who was mentioned at a special meeting in Cork City Council on Tuesday at which every councillor in Cork supported a Sinn Féin motion to keep the tenant in situ scheme operating, including Fine Fáil, Fine Gael and the opposition. Everyone supported it.”
“The only problem is that the Government will not provide the money. This is happening at a time when the country is awash with money and we have billions of euro to do this. Cork City Council did its job and what the local authority was supposed to do. It should be commended for it. The Government did not do its job because it is not providing the funding. I was contacted by a woman who works in the public sector and does not want to speak out publicly because of her job. She will be homeless. Imagine that she will have to go into a government job and tell her colleagues that she and her daughter will be homeless because the tenant in situ scheme is gone. This is a straightforward question. Before the Minister of State names everything that the Government is going to do and what it has spent, I want to ask him one question.”
“Is the Government going to provide money to Cork City Council to purchase 33 homes for the 33 families who will be homeless in the next week or two? It is a straight question and I am looking for a straight answer. This is not for me. This is for the people I represent in Cork who are at risk of homelessness. They will have to tell their children over the weekend or next week that they will become homeless because the Government decided to cut funding for the tenant in situ scheme. We told the Government this in March when we debated our Private Members' Bill and asked that the tenant in situ scheme be saved. The scheme works. It is one of the few things the Government did right. Tenants want houses to be purchased, landlords are willing to sell and local authorities want to purchase them.”
“This saved 100 children and 134 adults from becoming homeless, equal to 40% of Cork City Council's homeless prevention measures. This year, the Government provided €20 million. From that, €5.5 million has already been spent on 135 houses purchased last year and a further €12.7 million is needed to complete the purchase of 38 homes by the end of last year. An additional €3.5 million is needed for the refurbishment of the homes purchased last year. Despite €20 million in funding, Cork City Council has a deficit of €1.7 million. The problem is that the council agreed to buy 33 homes and notified families and landlords that they would do so. Families now face homelessness. I raised this issue with the Taoiseach yesterday. I asked him a question and want to ask the Minister of State a straight question.”
“On Tuesday, the Taoiseach said in this Chamber that he could not understand how €20 million had already been allocated for Cork City Council for the tenant in situ scheme. He could not understand where the money was. He did not doubt its sincerity, but he could not understand what had happened. That is a shocking admission from a Taoiseach. Let us lay out the facts here today. Cork City Council purchased 173 homes last year, eight more than it was originally sanctioned for. It received sanction for 50% more in June and was allowed to proceed. The Department sanctioned eight extra units. That meant 135 homes were purchased and closed in 2024, with an additional 38 homes bringing the total to 173 homes agreed and approved by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage at the end of last year.”
“The Irish country living section found that the traceability of the food can be poor. One example was where an ingredient was listed as "pasta sauce". That is not an ingredient so we need to work on that to ensure proper ingredients are supplied. Last, I have concerns the programme is all being subcontracted out. I would like, where possible, for these workers to work in our schools and be part of our education system from a food point of view and a provider point of view. We see more and more privatisation. That has always been the Government's agenda. I do not want to argue with it but I would like to bring the programme back into the schools and see people employed full time to do it.”
“I agree with the Minister that we need the highest standards of nutrition, especially when dealing with young children so I support that. I have a couple of concerns. The same funding of €3.20 per meal and portion size is given to children ranging from junior infants to sixth class, that i,s from children as young as four to the age of 12. I am not sure if the Minister has kids but I have two girls and I recall when they were at that age. I have coached teams and seen that boys and girls of 12 years of age cannot have the same portion size as a four-yea- old so that needs to be examined. It needs to be amended and I ask the Minister to look at that. A report by the Irish Farmers Journal found that some rural schools find it difficult to get local suppliers.”
“It ensures that we know every child has at least one hot meal per day. This is what we can get behind and can work together on because at the end of the day we want children to eat hot food that is nutritious at the same time. I am not here to criticise. I am here to support getting the hot school meals programme right. This is for all children and something we all want to work for.”
“Perhaps the Minister will elaborate on this but from my understanding is that of the 2,220 schools participating in the programme, only 14 will be assessed this year. That is fewer than one in five schools. The review has been announced but we need to know the terms of reference as well. Will the Minister come back on that? How long will the review take? He said he hopes to have the review on his desk by the end of the year but is that the review of just the portion of schools that will be reviewed this year or is that an overall review of all schools? The Minister mentioned nutrition and a dietician and the standards he is looking for and that is what we all support. The one thing we can say about the free hot school meals programme is it is a really good initiative for a lot of children.”
“Local authorities, landowners and prospective tenants are very cautious because there is no clarity on the legal standing when it comes to "meanwhile use". This should be rectified because it is one of the most powerful tools to help regenerate areas and deal with dereliction and vacancy. There is so much more that could be done in this regard. It is a missed opportunity.”
“The revised national planning framework does not properly emphasise the need for infill developments and brownfield developments in our towns and villages. We are seeing large estates being built on greenfield sites around towns. This can have a negative effect on local economies and force more people into cars. I will give one example. Twenty years ago the people of Grenagh in Cork were promised a bus service. They have virtually no bus service now. Loads of houses have been built, but there is no plan. It happened in Whitechurch, White's Cross, upper Glanmire and many other areas. At the same time, many of our main streets are full of derelict and vacant buildings. One of the key ambitions of the national planning framework is the guidance on "meanwhile use".”
“This is not a revision of the national planning framework; it is just a tweaking around the edges. It is very disappointing that no analysis has been provided on why the objectives of the original national planning framework have not yet been reached or on how this plan will operate differently. In the Dublin area, €19,000 is spent per capita on the NDP. This compares to just €10,000 in the Cork metropolitan area. All of the planning frameworks in the world are worth nothing if the money to implement them ignores the objectives. How is the regional counterbalance supposed to happen if it is not plan-led? Instead, the Government is demand-led, focusing on objectives and requests from developers and speculators.”
“The council wants to buy the houses, the landlords want to sell it the houses and the people want to stay there. The only people blocking this are those in the Government. Will the Taoiseach commit to Annette, Jason and the other 31 families that that funding will be given to Cork City Council to save them from homelessness?”
“Yesterday, the Taoiseach made a statement in the Dáil that he could not understand, regarding the €20 million that Cork City Council got for the tenant in situ scheme, where it was gone. I have a report that the chief executive gave to Cork City Council last night at a special meeting called by Sinn Féin. It got unanimous support to write to the Minister for housing to give the money for the 33 families who were sale agreed but are now facing homelessness. Deputy Martin is a Cork Taoiseach. I know a lady in Gurranabraher, Annette Hawkins, who has to be out of the house next week. She has been living in the house for 21 years and she is going to be at risk of homelessness next week. Jason Cashman, who the office of the Taoiseach is dealing with, is another person who was sale agreed. There are 33 families.”
“That is what the Government is doing, either blocking them from education or sending them on spins for hours on end. It is a disgrace. The Government should withdraw its objection to the motion.”
“These are children with additional needs, children with autism. They are going to spend their lives driving in cars. I raised the case of a woman in the Dáil over a year ago whose child is leaving the northside to go to Carrigaline. Nine hours the child is on the go, at six years old, between the car, the school and the car back. Nine hours is longer than a day's work and that is what the Government is giving these children and families. Many other families will have nowhere in August. The Ministers have come in here and opposed the Labour Party's motion. Why would they oppose it? This is an honest to goodness attempt to give every child their rights. This is about rights. Every child has a right to an education. No child should be discriminated against because he or she has additional needs.”