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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“Deputy Ward is trying to make a difference. He is trying to come up with a solution. The Minister should engage with him and with us. We should come together. This is surely something we can all agree on and work with. A consultant neurologist says this is causing nerve damage and potential lifelong harms and impacts to young people. Sinn Féin and Deputy Mark Ward are bringing forward a solution. The Government has had years to act. Deputies have raised this on the floor of the House. The Government once again is failing to protect young people, to regulate and to act. The EU has recognised its dangerous impacts. Holland has moved on it. Britain is looking at banning it. How many young people must be harmed before Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael finally take action?”
“I commend Deputy Ward and Joseph O'Callaghan in his office on bringing forward this legislation. It is well thought-out and well developed. The Bill Deputy Ward is bringing forward is comprehensive. It does not work against the Government. The Deputy is reaching across the floor, saying that this needs to be implemented and asking the Government to work with us. The Minister has decided to postpone it for nine months. As Deputy O'Reilly said, with how long it takes legislation to get through, it might as well have been kicked into another Dáil by the time the Government gets to it. To be fair to Deputy Ward, for years he has been out front warning about the dangers of nitrous oxide and explaining how young people are at risk and can be harmed. He is trying to do something. You often hear people asking what we do up here.”
“We want to work with the Minister of State on home care supports and services. The healthcare assistants are going on strike, the HSE support services in Cork, the home care assistants. I want to send my support to and express my solidarity with them. I ask the Minister of State to do everything in his power to resolve the case because they are really needed.”
“I will. I could fill that today. I am dealing with one family. The back garden of their house backs onto the wall of the hospital and they cannot get into it. The man's family are looking out the door when they are caring for their father and there is a dementia unit right there, 200 or 300 yd from his house. Another lady has to stay miles away because there is a shortage of dementia units and beds where people can go. The staff tell her daughter that when she comes to visit, the improvement in her mam is visible and that they can all see it. She is miles away; half an hour or 45 minutes away. When you have a small family with just two people who have their own families trying to make that journey, we need to provide this care locally. We want to take giant steps forward.”
“There are 19 beds in a special dementia unit. In August the HSE said it was being snagged. On 16 October, I was told it was completed. On 22 November, I was told they were waiting on registration. Yesterday they were still waiting on this registration. With the number of people I am aware of in the north side of Cork, I could fill it. Not the HSE, I could fill that dementia unit today at Heather House.”
“Does the Minister of State know the guilt that families are feeling when they are told to take their loved ones home and they have no one at home to mind them? There is no care package to mind them. They are being put under pressure in the hospital because the hospital is crying out for beds. The person themselves, the mother, father or family member, wants to get home. Who is going to look after them? I know of people who have given up their jobs and got a shift. I know families that are lucky and are big enough that someone is staying there every day. The pressure it is putting on the families is just immense. We do not need privatisation. We need more HSE care assistants to provide services for these people. There is a nursing home in my constituency, Heather House, Gurranabraher, on the old orthopaedic campus, the St. Mary's campus.”
“The Bill is a step forward but it is a really small step forward. What we needed was a giant leap to really take this by the scruff of the neck. Five years ago, loads of promises were made and we were expecting to make further progress in relation to regulation and the provision of care. What we are seeing now is more privatisation when we need more community-based services. We need more resources and people. The reality is that without addressing affordability, the Bill means nothing. I am really concerned. I am contacted regularly by people who are stuck in hospital beds. They want to get out but there is no package, no care plan to get them from the hospital bed to their home where they want to be. Sometimes the package is granted but there is no package there. It is all well and good.”
“The Tánaiste said in 2024 that within 100 days of Government formation, Cork city would have a task force. It is 362 days later and there is still no sign of the task force, but what we have are broken promises and all the talk out of the Tánaiste. This Government made promises to the people of Cork, but does the Taoiseach know what it is like? It is like the promises made about the events centre, which still has not been delivered. Some €2.2 million has been spent and a contractor has not even been appointed. I love being from Cork. As the Taoiseach knows, people from Cork love where we are from. Does the Taoiseach know what we do not love? It is this Government not investing in Cork. There is a shortage of gardaí, a bus service that does not work and gridlock around the city. When will this task force be delivered for Cork?”
“However, if you do not have a house, a home and a roof over your head and your children's heads to call your home, where are you going? Where is this Government going? It is not good enough. I brought forward legislation to work with the Government. I would have amended it. We could have amended it down the road. We could all have worked together. We still can because the vote on this is not until next Wednesday night. I ask the Minister to think about it. Perhaps he could pull the Opposition together with his own backbenchers. Those backbenchers are telling him the same. We could still work together and make a difference. At the end of the day, it is about helping people and providing housing for people to make a difference. It is about stopping dereliction and the speculators.”
“Does the Minister know what they are hoping for? They are hoping there is going to be another financial crash here so they can come home and buy a house. They are telling me they will never be able to come home with the price of houses and rents here and that their only hope is another financial crash. They do not believe the Government is interested in them. They do not believe it wants to support them. Every day, I talk to genuine hardworking people who are trying to build lives for themselves and their families. All they are looking for is a safe and affordable home so they can live their lives. Is that too much to ask? Over the last few days, I have been listening to different Ministers talking about all the people who are working and how well the country is going. For a lot of people, it is going well.”
“Who is going to do anything about it? Deputy Browne is the Minister. We could walk out the door here and see building after building that is derelict but the Minister is coming in here and asking us to wait until 2027, when we might get to it. With no disrespect, I do not believe the Government will get to it in 2027. Enough is enough. The Minister said he was not going to tolerate this but what is he doing? He can make these statements but the proof is in the pudding. The proof is in his actions and his actions are not delivering. This Government, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister have brass necks to tell us they are going to solve the housing crisis and the homelessness crisis and that they are going to stop people emigrating because they need homes. I know people who have left.”
“Charles Haughey, the former Taoiseach, owned an island. Those two men knew back then that this was wrong. I am here today trying to work with the Government but it will not work with us. It will not work with the Opposition and it definitely will not work with Sinn Féin. We propose having Revenue collect this levy. That should have started on 1 January. The Minister could give local authorities funding and staff to compulsorily purchase buildings. He could give local authorities support to take on the developers who are sitting on these sites and not developing them. There are people out there who want to buy these properties to turn them into businesses, homes, community centres and sports facilities but the Minister is letting them rot. There are buildings rotting in this country. Who is responsible?”
“This Bill will not fix everything but it would be a start. It would send a message to those the Minister has called criminals, those involved in the antisocial behaviour of destroying communities through dereliction. It would send a message that this will not be tolerated any more. It would also send a message to people who are struggling and who are looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. It would tell them that this Government will do something. This Government has done nothing on dereliction for 35 years. Does the Minister know the joke about this? Does he know who brought in the original dereliction legislation? In 1990, Charles Haughey was the Taoiseach and Pádraig Flynn was the Minister. Those two individuals thought it was bad 35 years ago. Governments have done nothing for 35 years.”
“If the Minister wants us to take him at face value, he needs to tackle this now. People want action. They do not want the Minister to be talking about this next year or the year after. They want action now. People are leaving this country to go to Australia because they cannot find somewhere to rent. There are people leaving because they cannot find a house to buy. There are people who are stuck because they cannot get social housing but cannot afford rent. I am not sure about the Minister's pride in his responsibility. I am genuinely not trying to insult him but these are the facts as we stand in the Dáil today. We have the highest rents, the highest house prices and the highest homelessness figures in the history of the State and Deputy Browne is the Minister. He can blame us in the Opposition but I am trying to fix something.”
“Other Members have made comments about different towns and cities. Does the Minister know how hard it is for people living in overcrowded accommodation with two or three generations in the one house when there is a derelict site around the corner? Does he know how hard it is for people in emergency accommodation to bring their children across the city to school, passing a dozen properties that could be their home? The Minister talks about his Government. Why is he not doing this now? He should be tackling dereliction today. This Government has been in place for more than a year. Why is it not doing its job? It is because Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are up to their tonsils in vested interests, the landholders and speculators who are only interested in making money.”
“I know that when his Bill is enacted, my Bill will fall, but at least until the Minister's Bill comes in, this Bill will be working away. The Minister commented twice but he never once mentioned the €20 million owed by speculators to whom he is giving an amnesty. Those are the facts. He also never discussed why the 2024 figures on dereliction have not been released. They are normally released every March. The Minister is hiding the figures. I got them from every other Minister but I cannot get them off Deputy Browne. Why is he hiding and covering up the dereliction and the landholders and speculators who have derelict sites all over the State? The Minister says he wants a war on dereliction. Give us the figures. Release them. Why will the Minister not release them? It is because they will show how bad things are.”
“The Minister is telling me they could not get it right for 35 years and is blaming them for not collecting the levy, but he is still leaving them in charge of putting the list together. The Minister cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. I spoke earlier about being in the Mercy hospital on Tuesday night, a freezing cold night. It was jammed out the door, with trolleys everywhere. I was 11 hours in there with a family member. People told me they came into A and E to get out of the cold. I do not know whether the Minister knows where the Mercy hospital is in Cork. Within minutes' walking distance of the hospital are derelict buildings. Around the corner from the hospital are buildings that are rotting. The Minister should be bringing in this legislation now.”
“I thank my staff, especially my PA, who have done a tremendous amount of work on this legislation. I also thank the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, which has assisted me in bringing in this legislation. The Minister might criticise it but it is right and has gone through the whole process. As a back bench TD, I am limited in the legislation I can bring forward. I would love to go much further. I would love to work with the Minister on it but he comes in here and criticises the proposals I have made. He just said he was having a war on dereliction. What he did not say was it was not starting for another two years. He comes in here and criticises local authorities and councils but he has given local authorities the job of pulling the derelict sites register together. They have had that job for 35 years.”
“We will work with the Government but, from what I can see, the Government will not work with us. No matter what solutions we bring forward, the Government is not interested. We have advocated for years for something along the lines of the new derelict sites tax the Minister will be introducing in 2027. We think such a tax is the right way to bring in revenue. I will leave the Minister with this. On Tuesday night, I spent 11 hours with a family member in a hospital accident and emergency department in Cork. Nine homeless people were in there, and I got to talking to them. Does the Minister know why they were in the accident and emergency department in Cork on Tuesday night? It was because it was freezing outside. They came in out of the cold to get a bit of heat. This is how bad the homelessness and housing crisis is in Cork.”
“It was a beautiful home that has been left to go to rack and ruin. This legislation will force local authorities which do not collect 75% of their levies to take action to produce a report about why and when that will happen and it will force the Minister to engage with them to ensure that it does. If the Minister is genuine, I ask him to accept the Bill. For far too long in this country, there has been an old boys' club. It has been a case of not upsetting Johnny because Johnny is sound and one of our own. We have to start upsetting Johnny because there are land hoarders and speculators who do not give a damn about the communities they are in. The Government has a big job to solve the housing crisis and dereliction. This is a start. We are trying to come up with solutions. It is not just me but all of the Opposition.”
“I was contacted by a lady who was born and reared in the house. Her family was raised there and sold the house. There are now holes in the roof and the windows are broken. The only ones living in the house now are the pigeons of Cork. I am not trying to be smart or make a joke of it. There is a house in the centre of the city that was left to rot. Through his actions, the Minister will continue to allow that to happen. The lady who contacted me was angry and frustrated because she had a great experience growing up in that home and she was hoping the next people to live in it would have the same experience, but they did not. She sent me photographs of her family when they were growing up in this house, which is off Shandon Street, showing the life that they had. The house was immaculate and spotlessly clean.”
“The Minister said he wants to solve the housing and homelessness crisis. For years, I have taken Ministers at their word, but I have to judge the Minister on his actions. If he is not going to tackle dereliction today and take it on head first, then I cannot believe his words because I look at his actions. People who cannot buy a house, rent a house or get on the social housing list, for different reasons, are looking at these boarded-up, derelict houses. They say to me, "Tommy, how is that right?" It is not just one place. I have met people from Dundalk, Limerick, Cork, Dublin, and all over. Last year, I went up the west coast, through Sligo, Galway and all the way up to Donegal. I saw cottages empty and derelict, where families could live if they were supported. Behind my office was a building that was derelict. I put it up on Facebook.”
“There are probably people who want to start or expand their businesses, but they are looking at a derelict building next to them that is preventing them from taking the opportunity to create more business, hire more people and be a positive impact on the community. A number of issues are involved here. These buildings are not just derelict. They are an insult to people, because they could be worth more. They could be vibrant places that have a positive impact on communities. They could be an asset but, instead, they are left to rot. There are currently thousands of homeless children living in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. How heartbreaking must it be for parents to be in emergency accommodation and, at the same time, have to look at derelict buildings that could be turned into homes?”
“I was talking about it with a TD here. Youth groups, sporting groups and voluntary organisations that are crying out for buildings see these empty, destroyed buildings in their community, while they have none or are struggling to pay for the buildings they have. The antisocial behaviour and dumping in the heart of some communities are shocking. In areas that are crying out for housing, decent, hard-working people are going to work every day and looking at derelict buildings. Community groups, local authorities and sporting organisations can be pulled together to turn these derelict buildings into housing or make them suitable for community buildings. There is also the business community.”
“Instead, the Minister is giving them an amnesty. I am not sure where the Minister comes from or how much dereliction there is in his area, but in the area that I represent, and in the areas of other TDs here, we see first-hand the destruction dereliction causes. Can the Minister imagine people growing up with a house or building next door that is derelict? Can he imagine the negative effects that has on children and the environment they are growing up in? This is about more than finance. This is about quality of life, protecting communities and not letting speculators get away scot-free. If they are not going to use the buildings, they should be the subject of compulsory purchase orders for housing. If that is not the case, they should be used for youth clubs, community centres, boxing clubs, the arts and dance.”
“The Minister tells them he knows them and they are sound. These people are letting billions rot in the heart of communities. I invite the Minister again to walk the streets of any town, village or city with me. If he walks around Dublin today, he will see derelict buildings, dirt, rubbish and antisocial behaviour. How can he stand over that? In 2024, this Government - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - and RTÉ brought 5,400 people to court for not paying their TV licence, at a total cost of €864,000. When the ordinary man on the street does not pay the €160 for his TV licence, he will be dragged to court, but when someone owes tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of euro, they get away with an amnesty. When will those people and companies go to court? They should be brought to court for the destruction they are doing to communities.”
“Think of all the derelict site levies that will not be collected, plus the €20 million that is already owed, and then the Minister says it will not come in until 2027. How can he describe that as a war on dereliction? How can he stand over that? Why is that levy not being paid today? It should have been paid since 1 January. What the Minister has done, instead of having a war on dereliction, is have an amnesty on dereliction. This Bill is only an interim measure that will end that amnesty and put in place plans to collect more and collect the €20 million that is currently owed to the State. If ordinary people owe money to the State, they have to pay it. If people have not paid their local property tax, it comes out of their salary, but if they do not pay hundreds of thousands on derelict properties, they are all right.”
“Just to give an idea, there are between 90,000 and 140,000 vacant homes in the State, depending on whether you look at CSO figures or GeoDirectory. Does the Minister know how many homes the vacant homes tax was paid for? It is less than 2,500, which is 2% of vacant homes. That was the Minister's solution. Some 98% of people get away scot-free and 2% of people are put on the register, which does not charge enough. As if that is not bad enough, the Minister announced the derelict sites tax and then said that, as Minister for housing, he would have a war on dereliction. That is a load of bull because the tax does not come in until 2027. I am not sure how the Minister's maths work out, but from last year's budget to when the tax comes in will be at least two years.”
“This Government has given an amnesty to speculators not to pay the derelict sites tax. Over €20.5 million is owed in derelict sites levies. If we ever needed proof that this Government was more interested in looking after speculators and issuing nice press statements, we see it with what happened in the budget. We have a housing crisis. This will not solve the housing crisis but it is a small step. This is a solution we are bringing forward. The one thing we hear from the Government all the time is "The Opposition do not bring forward solutions". This is a solution. This is a positive step. Why will the Minister not support it? This will be a self-reported tax that will be collected by the Revenue, the same as the vacant homes tax, another damp squib the Government brought in.”
“The Government that brought it in - because this was brought in by Fianna Fáil - has allowed this to happen. If an ordinary man on the street got a parking ticket or did something wrong and got a fine, the local authority would force him to pay his parking fine. If he did not, the local authority would bring him to court. If, however, you are a landholder or a speculator and you owe hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of euro, what does this Government do? It lets you off. Once again we have here one rule for the rich and the wealthy and another rule for ordinary people. This allows speculators to get away scot-free. Then they sit in these properties that destroy communities and they see the value of their investment go up. Where is the justice? Where is the law? Where is the right for ordinary people?”
“This Bill also requires the Minister then to engage with those local authorities as to why it is not happening and what needs to be done. Is it resources? Is it supports? This would end the blame game whereby local authorities blame the Minister in the Department and vice versa . This puts a requirement on everyone to solve the derelict sites levy and make sure that it is collected. As regards the impact of this, it will not solve dereliction overnight. It will not end the blight of dereliction in the towns, the villages and the cities. As to what it will do, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for far too long have been cosying up to landholders, speculators and developers - their buddies - and allowing them to get away with this. Is there any law that was brought in over 35 years ago that has been so disrespected and abused?”
“I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." This Bill aims to finally end the non-collection of derelict sites levies and to force transparency on the reasons why the levies are not being collected. Since the introduction of the derelict sites levy 35 years ago in 1990, we have heard excuse after excuse as to why the levy is not being collected. In 2023, less than 10% of the levies that were owed were actually collected. This does not go into the number of sites that were not on the derelict sites register or the number of sites to which the levy was not actually applied. This Bill would require every local authority that does not collect 75% or more of the derelict sites levy to produce a report as to why it was not collected and what plans the local authority will put in place to ensure its collection.”
“A young person who is sleeping on the streets needs intervention, 100%, but there is no point in a young person who is at risk of becoming homeless ending up on the streets too. We need both types of children to be looked after. I am worried, in light of what is being proposed now, that Tusla is going down a different road. We need to save Liberty Street House.”
“I have two worries on foot of the Minister's comments. She is saying that the services are being integrated. Is Liberty Street House being closed down? Liberty Street House provides a service to young people who are at risk of homelessness and who enter homelessness. I am looking for a commitment now that this will not be closed down. The information I have is from people who are in the know. They have told me that no additional staff have been taken on to replace those who have left through retirements and redeployments, and that the few who remain will be gone by the middle or end of January. The Minister talks about integrating services, which sounds great, but I am worried about the children who are not as severely at risk, such as a young person who is at risk of homelessness.”
“If the Minister is saying that is not the case, we need clarity on the matter. This is a vital service for young people at risk of homelessness.”
“I thank the Minister for the update but the information I have is that Liberty Street House will be out of staff by mid-January and is currently not recruiting. I understand it has not replaced the staff who have left, been redeployed or have retired. I want the Minister to be right, and I hope she is right, in what she has just said here. Liberty Street House has been operating very successfully for the last two decades in providing really vital services for young people who are at risk of homelessness. It is said now that it is being amalgamated with Tusla's front door teams. At one stage Liberty Street House was helping over 200 young people. Maybe the Minister's information is more correct but I am telling her, from the people who work on the ground, that the staff will be gone by mid-January.”
“Will the Minister give a commitment to intervene to prevent the closure in mid-January of a homeless prevention service in Cork, and to ensure the service does not cease to provide vital community support to homeless young people through social care work?”
“We have so much dereliction and vacancy and so many units above the shops that could really make a difference. That is why we are saying the only way for this to happen and the only way to deliver secure affordable homes for people is to use the units that already exist. It is not the only way but it is the quickest way. We support these motions. In the areas I represent, were the Minister to walk around Blackpool, Shandon Street or North Main Street, he could see these areas are crying out for investment and would be great communities for people to live in.”
“What we do not want to see - and what I certainly do not want to see - is speculators, investors and vulture funds coming in and getting the money that has now been earmarked, namely, a maximum of €140,000 per multi-unit or multi-apartment building. We want to see them delivered as affordable and cost-rental properties. If the Government is making this type of investment, speculators should not be coming in then and charging huge rents when they turn these buildings around. That may be something the Minister needs to look at as well in order that they are not just taking all the money from the State and then making huge profits. If they are going to supported by the State, they should be supporting communities and ensuring the rents they charge are reasonable.”
“They might be shops, offices or pubs but if they are lying empty, turning them into homes is a win for communities, for the environment and, most importantly, for families out there who are crying out for homes. This week, the Minister announced additional funding for vacant above-the-shop units to turn them into homes. We have been raising for years the issue of above-the-shop units that have been lying empty when they should have been turned into homes. That is what we want to see. This is all about delivery and the quickest, easiest way to deliver is to deliver homes and buildings that already exist.”
“As there are still businesses in the heart of these communities, were more people brought in to live in the communities, they would safeguard the existing business and bring more people in. That is what we want to see. We want to see communities flourish. We do not want to see communities blighted by dereliction, vacancy and boarded-up properties. Therefore, turning commercial businesses into homes in places like Blackpool and Shandon Street can be a really positive thing for the community. This is not just in Cork. We have areas like this in Drogheda, Tipperary and all across Dublin. It is in every town, village and city where we need to see more homes being delivered. If we are going to hit our 2030 targets, the best homes to deliver are homes that already exist.”
“As my colleague said, we are supporting both these motions. At committee, the Minister said these exempted developments have been hugely successful. While I believe commercial units being returned as homes is a good thing, it has not reached the potential it could. We look at villages and areas that I represent like Blackpool in Cork city, one of the oldest, most historic villages and parts of Cork city. Then we have Shandon with the renowned Shandon steeple, the church and the bells. We see these communities with shops, offices and pubs boarded up and closed for decades, not years. If these exempted developments were working, we would see the return of those properties as homes.”
“That will be gone this year. There are 70, 80 or 100 children in the hall of Mayfield Boxing Club. It has no facilities of its own. Elite Boxing Club has no facilities of its own. It is renting again. That money should be going to them. Councillor Michelle Gould put in a motion relating to Knocknaheeny. Why is there no playground in Knocknaheeny? It is one of the most disadvantaged areas. Does the Minister know why? Cork City Council would not replace it because it kept getting damaged. Does the Minister think that it is right that people in Knocknaheeny have no playground because criminals are getting away with it?”
“CAB might get to them in the end, but we should be getting to them a lot sooner. There are drug dealing families in Cork who have been dealing drugs for nearly 40 years. How can a family be dealing drugs for 40 years and allowed to get away with it? CAB has tackled some of them but there should be a no-nonsense approach to these criminals because of the damage they are doing. There are people in my community who have died by suicide because of the pressure that was put on them and their families as a result of drug debts. That is as good as murder. They drove them to suicide. They need to be tackled head-on. This amendment goes to supporting communities that need it the most. I will give the Minister examples. Golden Gloves Boxing Club has all-Ireland champions and European champions. It is renting a unit at the moment.”
“I support this amendment. Deputy Ward has tabled an important amendment. I ask the Minister to take it on board. If he does not take it on board now, I ask him to incorporate it when he is looking at this legislation and other legislation. What we have now is that the money made on the back of some of the communities that are most affected by drug dealing and criminality is not going back into those communities. That is just not right. We and the Minister know from the Pobal index where these communities are, where the communities who need the help are and where this money should go. I would love to see the Minister encourage CAB and give it the resources to go after more of these drug gangs, suppliers, dealers and criminals. They are destroying communities, families and individuals.”
“I do not know where the Minister and the Government are living. People are mad. They are furious. They cannot understand how the Government can give money all over the place except to the most vulnerable. A person pointed out to me the other day that before the election, the Government was full of smiles and promises. It promised to do this, that and the other. It never told the people last year that it would charge them €30, €40 or €50 for blister packs. This is another one of its broken promises and hidden taxes. It is now the bones of four years until the next election. I ask the Minister to think about the harm she is going to cause. I ask her to make a decision, stand up and decide not to charge for blister packs. People deserve them.”
“This measure will put more pressure on carers and families. It will put vulnerable people at risk. Why would the Minister do it? How can she justify standing over it? In the budget, the Government gave hundreds of millions of euro to developers and speculators. It gave millions and millions of euro to the hospitality sector. When those decisions were made, the Minister knew she was going to introduce this measure. Deputy Cullinane outlined this months ago and she still went ahead. The Government promised a budget that would deliver for people with disabilities. It promised financial support. It let those people down. Not alone did the Government let them down in respect of a cost-of-disability package, it doubled down and put extra charges on the most vulnerable. There is pressure on carers again.”
“The one word to describe the action that the Minister and the Government have taken is "cruel". It is cruelty towards some of the most vulnerable people in this State. It is mean. Will the Minister not make a decision? Will she not stand up to whoever behind the scenes is forcing her to make this call? She should decide not to let down pensioners, the disabled or the most vulnerable. How can she justify it? She has the power. People are watching and listening to the debate. They are looking to the Minister for hope. I know she will postpone the measure for a couple of months. Is she postponing it because she will not admit that Sinn Féin is right or is she doing so because this Government is so cruel to vulnerable people? That is the question people are asking. Blister packs are important to vulnerable people.”
“I asked a question but the Minister is talking about local government. He is the Minister representing the Government here today. He is the person who should give the answer. He should not blame local government. He wants to blame local government and Irish Water.”
“A total of 93 families in Cork will spend their Christmas in homeless accommodation. Five of them will have been in homeless accommodation for over three years. This year, the Government will spend €21 million housing these families while there are hundreds of boarded-up council houses in Cork that could be turned around. These are places where children could have a proper Christmas and hang stockings on the chimney, knowing that Santa will come down it. However, the Minister's Government will not reopen the voids scheme. Will the Minister or his Government give a commitment now? We are two weeks out from Christmas and families are homeless. Will the Minister commit to opening and funding the voids scheme to give these families a home this year instead of wasting money on emergency accommodation when it should be put into homes?”