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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“Parents are paying out for everything, for example, school transport and iPads that are not being covered by the Government. That was an easy way to take pressure off parents. We are coming forward with solutions for people. The Government should be backing us. We should be working together here. Why does it always put barriers in place when we are trying to support ordinary people?”
“Think of the parents who are living in overcrowded emergency accommodation. How are they going to wash uniforms? I raise the pressure that is being put on them to get their kids out the door every morning in the proper attire. There are some shops with a monopoly. Parents are paying out vast sums of money when they should have more choice. There should be more flexibility. It should be easy for people to buy uniforms for their children, not putting a barrier of costs in the way. What we are looking to do is to support parents, families and children. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission recognises that there is a monopoly and it is costing parents money. Barnardos found that 54% of parents were worried about the cost of their children going back to school. At the same time, schools are worried about their heating bills.”
“The report of the Barnardos 2025 back to school survey indicated that the average price of uniforms was €126 for a primary school uniform and €119 for a secondary school uniform. Many parents have just paid out for these uniforms, but they are facing additional costs as well in January. Children grow and play and a lot of the time, these uniforms have to be replaced. That is an additional cost. I know parents who have had to go to the credit union to get loans to send their kids back to school. They had to borrow money off family or friends to get their kids back to school. I know parents who have had to go to money lenders to get money to get their kids back to school because things are so tight now with this current cost-of-living crisis that every penny or euro counts for the vast majority of people.”
“We believe that price legislation should work for the ordinary person and our amendments look to deliver on that. This is about people's quality of life. This is about people not being afraid. Can the Minister of State imagine being afraid to turn on the electricity or the heating?”
“There are older people - I have spoken to them in areas I represent, including Madden's Buildings in Blackpool, Roche's Buildings and Barrett's Buildings - who are terrified by the cost of electricity and how they are going to get through this winter without the support of the payments that were made last year. Will the Government ensure that energy companies are not making horrible profits on the backs of ordinary people who are really struggling? Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have for too long cowardly not tackled these companies and their major profits.”
“As we face into winter, hundreds of thousands of people are in arrears on their electricity bills. With prices having gone through the roof, more and more will join them. The Government must do more to tackle the energy companies. With the removal of the energy credits, the Government itself has increased people's energy costs this year. People were dependent on those energy credits. They were their hope of being able to pay bills and keep the heating and lighting on during winter. There are families sitting right now in cold homes. There are parents who feel like failures because they are not able to look after themselves and, in particular, their children the way they should be.”
“This Bill has been fast-tracked as an attempt to cover up decades of underinvestment in our energy grid. I absolutely agree that we need a modern, fit-for-purpose grid but it must be done with the required Government accountability. Sinn Féin has four constructive amendments we are asking the Minister to consider. They include proposals for greater transparency, fairness in pricing and the prioritisation of projects. Data centres cannot be given the same priority as hospitals. This is an issue on which we see bad Government policies leading to priorities not being delivered. The Bill should have included actions to ensure consumers are not forced to pay increasing energy costs while energy companies see soaring profits. There are people struggling with the cost of heating.”
“I will leave the Minister with this. I was sent a message after the last time I spoke. This person said that they are as Irish as the rest of the land and that, whether we are from Cork or Belfast, we were not just born in Ireland, Ireland was born in us.”
“When I vote on Friday, I will raise my voice for all of them. Presidential voting rights are a symbol of a united Ireland. That should unite us, all traditions and all people. The Ballymena actor James Nesbitt comes from a unionist background, but that does not stop him from identifying as an Irishman. He cannot vote for a person seeking to become the President of Ireland. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have failed to act, which means that people from the unionist tradition are being treated like second-class citizens. We do not want that for anyone, whether unionist, nationalist, republican, dissenter or none of the aforementioned. Legislation to extend presidential voting rights was introduced in 2014. It actually exists. It is a tangible thing. Why is the Government letting it gather dust? We have an opportunity here.”
“It is because they live on the opposite side of an imaginary boundary line that means they cannot vote. How can that be right? How can people who live on this island and who are Irish citizens be denied a vote by a line that is only imaginary? Young people across the island have been really inspired by this presidential campaign. I know some people are angry and disillusioned, but the young people I talk to have a vision for the President they want to see. When I cast my vote on Friday, I will be casting it for the likes of Mo Chara, the president of GAA, Jarlath Burns, and all of the people I know in the Six Counties and across the world who are Irish citizens who cannot vote. How can it be right that Irish citizens are not allowed to vote? It is not right. It is as simple as that.”
“I have friends in the Six Counties who are even more Irish. I only have cúpla focal as Gaeilge. I have friends in the North who are fluent Irish speakers. Their family are also fluent Irish speakers. They feel it more and they are denied that right. We will work with the Minister and with everyone to make sure this is the last time they are excluded. "Vote Connolly ... cause we can't." Those are words of Kneecap, the Irish language activists and musicians who will not be able to vote in the presidential election on Friday. That is not because they do not love this island, do not champion the cause of Ireland or are not Irish citizens. It is not because of where they were born or the language they speak or because of a sport or their passports.”
“Democracy is at its best when it is robust and transparent. I understand that there in awful lot of anger at the process certain parties took during the nomination process for presidential candidates. This has to be looked at. Looking back, the majority of people agree on that. I sat on the housing committee during the establishment of the Electoral Commission. Now is the time to commence the review of presidential elections. We have seven years to get this done. We can work together. This is something the vast majority if not all of the Dáil agrees with. The process should start as soon as possible. This must be the last election where the voting rights of our comrades and fellow Irish citizens in the Six Counties and around the world are blocked. I have friends in America, Canada, Australia and England who are as Irish as me.”
“Micheál Martin might want to block this but I know die-hard Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael people who dream of Irish unity like we dream of Irish unity. Will the Government not come with us on this journey? It is an inclusive journey. Rugby, boxing and many sports operate across the entire island. They have been doing so for decades. Why can we not work together? We are not trying to impose ourselves. We are saying "Let us plan". Let us hear everyone's vision and everyone's concerns. Let us have a citizens assembly. Let us have referendums and let us work together. I love this country and this island. I want to have the best possible Thirty-two Counties we can have. The only people blocking us are Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin and this Government. I plead with the Minister of State to change his mind so we can walk together.”
“I remember what it was like 40 years ago to travel to GAA clubs and what it meant to people in those communities to hold a hurley or kick a football. I love Croke Park for what it stands for, for us, not just the GAA, but the Irish people. Players from the Six Counties will play in Croke Park in all-Ireland finals in hurling, football and camogie. The President will walk the red carpet and shake their hands, but they cannot vote for that person. How is it right that citizens of this country, because they live on the other side of a line that should never have been there, cannot vote? How is that right? How can Micheál Martin and this Government stand over denying their people their constitutional right as Irish citizens to vote in a presidential election?”
“We have a unique opportunity to work together to accomplish something many people thought could never happen. We have brought forward a motion on planning for a united Ireland. Going back to Wolfe Tone, the Fenians and all the people down through the generations, many tried to unite this country as a free 32-county Irish republic. We have the opportunity to take a step closer on that road and we are asking the Government to come with us, to walk next to us, to be part of this journey and to bring the unionist community and all other communities with us. We are not trying to force our beliefs on others. We want to ask them about their beliefs and what they want to do. I am a member of the GAA. I remember, as a young fella of 12, 13 and 14, going up to Crossmaglen, Kileavy and all the different clubs in the North.”
“We know that between electricity and gas bills, half a million people are in arrears. Ordinary workers and families are worse off because of the Government. We have not discussed the energy credits that the Government did not provide. It has failed to deliver the childcare it promised within a hundred days. It has reneged on the commitment to carers to abolish the means test. All the Finance Bill does is look after vested interests. Deputy Doherty spoke about a group of 3,000 high earners who earn between €120,000 and €1 million. The Government is looking after them, but the ordinary man and woman on the street who goes out to work every day does not get a tax break. The Government looked after the banks and developers, but did not look after ordinary people, including carers.”
“It is unbelievable that the budget has done nothing for ordinary workers and families; in fact, they are worse off after the Finance Bill and budget. How could the Government leave so many people down? It did not leave the vulture funds or big developers and speculators down, but we are told not to worry about the ordinary working people because there will not be an election for four years. People are working every day of the week. A household with two working people is now €57 worse off because of the budget. How can that be right? How can people be worse off every week and every month after the budget? People are working hard. Many have to buy the cheapest food possible in a shop, which is usually the most unhealthy food. People are careful when they turn on their electricity or heating because they are watching their bills.”
“It shows how desperate this Government is when it is making Phil Hogan look good. That is how bad it is. When people cannot get playgrounds, footpath repairs, lighting or traffic calming measures to slow down traffic in their communities, the finger needs to be pointed at the Minister and the Bill. He is leaving people down and trying to blame local authorities. When we hear of old people tripping over broken footpaths and breaking their hips and knees, we should not blame the local authorities. They do not have the money because the Minister has not given it to them. The Government has slashed the budget over the years since 2008 and still has not returned funding. The Government should not expect local authorities to perform miracles because they cannot. The Government needs to deliver for ordinary people and workers.”
“He will spend two years putting a register together. There will be more bureaucracy and red tape. I could provide a list of a hundred buildings in Cork to the Minister. Every other Sinn Féin and Opposition TD could do the same in their areas. Why will the Minister not act? We want the Minister to collect the money that is outstanding now. We want him to get Revenue to put a levy on people who hoard houses and let them rot. This levy must start now, not in two years' time. Regarding local government funding, the Minister of course wants to spend the next two years blaming local authorities for everything he is failing to do. In 2008, Phil Hogan, "Mr. Water Charges" and the man who abolished town councils, announced a local government budget of €1.6 billion for local authorities. This year, the Minister is allocating €670 million.”
“If we ever wanted more proof that the Government has its priorities all wrong, this Bill is it. On a day when the Minister for housing announced a war on dereliction and vacancy, it is a joke. It would be funny if it were not so serious. We have a Finance Bill that does absolutely nothing to tackle either. The housing Minister's war on dereliction will start in two years' time, but for the next two years he will be looking for derelict properties. We know where they are because every local authority has a derelict sites register. We can start now. I have just come out of a housing meeting where we discussed dereliction. Why is the Minister waiting two years? In every town, village and city dereliction is everywhere and houses and buildings have been left to rot. What is the Minister doing?”
“There are parents whose children have no school. We are in October. How is this possible in 2025? Cherishing all the children equally is a load of bollocks, God forgive me. They have no school and the Minister of State is coming in here with her big long list of what the Government is doing for them. There are three Ministers of State present and I will send each of them the names of these children and I will look for them to come back to tell me when and where they will have a school.”
“He has had an unbelievable fightback and we see how he is now. He still has many issues. He set up his own photography company and he turned out to be brilliant. He was out the door for a couple of years with people trying to book him. However, there were no supports for disabled entrepreneurs. He presented before the Oireachtas disability committee two years ago and people were telling him he was a great bit of stuff and well done. Eddie's business is gone now and the reason it is gone is Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independent Deputies never supported him and they are still not supporting him. It is not only Eddie; it is any disabled person out there who wants to become an entrepreneur, who wants to make a difference and who wants to stand on their own two feet. All they are looking for is a little bit of help.”
“The Minister of State and the Government are failing people with disabilities. The budget announced last week did nothing for them and actually made them worse off. The report the Government produced in 2021 outlined that it costs people with disabilities more to live because of the extras they need. It costs anything between €10,000 and €12,000 extra. What has the Government done to help them? The Minister of State listed out a lot of things the Government is doing. If she comes down to my constituency, I will bring her around. I will show her how people with disabilities are living and how they are struggling. Government Members speak about what they are doing but do they not know how people are suffering and how they are struggling? At the age of 33, a very good friend of mine, Eddie Hennessy, had a massive stroke.”
“They do not qualify for cost-rental. What is the Minister going to do for them? What is he going to do for families who have nowhere to go and cannot find anywhere to rent or to buy? They are trapped in the middle and the Government let them down in the budget.”
“Afterwards, I have to do a phone clinic for people who cannot come in. She is a 68-year-old lady who is facing homelessness in February. She is going to be homeless when she is 69 years old. Who is responsible? It is the Government's policy. We are seeing more older people become homeless than we ever did before. She is worried that when she is in her seventies she will be homeless. Another lady contacted me. She has been living in emergency accommodation since 8 January with a small baby. The Government is putting hundreds of millions into tax breaks and now people with young children and pensioners are effected. I had a couple in with me the other day. They have four children and cannot get a mortgage because every time they go to buy a house, the prices are being driven up. They do not qualify for social housing-----”
“I will give the Minister another figure if he wants to burn money instead of building houses. It costs on average €87,500 to keep a family in a hotel in emergency accommodation. That is what we are spending, and it is only €31,000 to repair a boarded-up house. For years I thought the Government was over-smart, saying the market would solve the problem. I am now fully convinced that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not want to solve the housing problem because they are more interested in keeping the banks profitable, the rents and mortgages high and keeping everything high. What about ordinary people? What about ordinary people who cannot pay their rents or get mortgages? I will give the Minister one example. A lady contacted my office on Monday. I have a clinic on Mondays and it is not possible to get in the door of my office for four hours.”
“The Minister is shaking his head. I do not know if anyone is watching, but the Minister is shaking his head saying no, that he will not give money to repair boarded-up houses, to get families out of emergency accommodation and get families out of-----”
“Deputy Browne is the Minister in charge and the man with the purse strings, but he is blaming everyone else. He is like Pontius Pilate; he is washing his hands. If Deputy Eoin Ó Broin or I was the Minister for housing, we would stand up and be counted. We would accept our responsibility and we would deliver the housing. It would cost €13 million to fix every boarded-up house in the State and the Minister will not give it. Will he commit to giving that money to local authorities?”
“Families are crying out for housing and somewhere safe to raise their families to live. They are looking around communities where there are boarded-up houses. Who is responsible if the Minister is not responsible?”
“They want to do it, but they are not getting the funding from central government. They are not getting it from the Minister. Right across the board, we see these issues. Just to let the Minister know, according to an answer we got at a meeting of Cork City Council last night, the council has spent over €250 million boarding up houses and putting up these metal shutters. It is an absolute disgrace. What a waste of money to spend €250 million boarding up houses that families should be living in because the Minister will not give the money to the local authorities. If that is happening in Cork, there are 30 other local authorities doing the same thing. This does not even include every house being boarded up, because sometimes houses are left to look like they are being lived in and they are not.”
“That is €640 million being spent on apartments. These apartments are viable. As a TD and a former councillor and in my position as my party's spokesman on local government, I have met with developers and builders. They do not go into a development unless they know there is a profit at the end of it. Why is the Minister giving them more money to increase their profits? It just does not make sense. It is costing the local authorities on average €31,000 to renovate a vacant house and that is according to the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, report. It is estimated it would cost €13 million to renovate and repair every boarded-up and vacant county council property. These are properties owned by the State. That €13 million is a drop in the ocean. This is at a time when councils are crying out for funding.”
“Why is more not being done with these organisations? The problems they are telling us about include the bureaucracy, the red tape and the barriers. There are also barriers in relation to cost-rental equity funding. It is holding the AHBs back. Additional funding would help them to deliver, but there is a need to get rid of the red tape and the bureaucracy. This is about delivery. Everything should be done to speed things up. Last week, the Minister announced tax breaks for people building apartments, but some of these are being built and are nearly ready now. We have a lack of funding in some areas, but then the Minister has set aside €640 million over the next two years for tax breaks for building apartments. It is more than double the budget for affordable purchase homes in the next two years.”
“We need to see a major influx of funding and investment in housing and particularly in affordable, cost-rental and social housing. Right now, thousands of people are without secure, affordable housing and they are crying out for solutions. They are looking for the Minister and this Government to bring forward solutions. Cost rental is a good idea - it is one of the things we can all agree on - but why then has it not been delivered at the scale it needs to be? Last year, only 2,027 cost-rental homes were delivered across the entire State. In Cork alone, 1,200 people applied for 73 cost rentals in one unit. That tells us the demand. The supply being delivered, though, does not meet what is needed. More than half of those homes were delivered by AHBs. They are telling us they have the capacity to build and deliver more.”
“There is no stick for the land hoarders, the wealthy and the speculators but yesterday in the budget there was stick for ordinary families who could not pay their heating bills or their rent and who were struggling to pay their bills and put food on the table. Finally, in the budget in 2009, €1.6 billion was given by the then Government to the Local Government Fund. Yesterday, €670 million was promised. Look at the reduction 16 years later. The Government is blaming local authorities, but the buck stops with it.”
“You cannot beat a bit of red tape to keep everyone happy. There is a situation in a building like the one I am showing here. The Minister may know this building. For the next two years, no levies will be put on its owner. These are two apartments where families could be housed and where people could make a home. Instead, the building is being left derelict. This is the property of a former Minister - a presidential candidate - and it is left derelict. It is a shame and a scandal that this is allowed to happen. Just when this Government was about to fix it, it gives at least two years - if not three - before these levies will be collected and before a red cent is collected by Revenue. It is the same old, same old, when it comes to this issue. The Minister is all carrot and no stick. Why is this?”
“Just when they were on the verge of getting it right, they announced that it would be about two years before speculators, land hoarders and those who were leaving these properties derelict came in under the levy. The Minister was telling everyone at a press conference yesterday how great his plan was and about how the register of derelict sites would be set up over the next two years. One might say the Minister could be forgiven for not knowing it but the derelict sites register has been set up since 1990. That is 35 years. Every local authority has a derelict sites register. Is the Minister - or this Government - so completely incompetent that he is now going to set up a new register, reinvent the wheel and create more bureaucracy and red tape? This is typical Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”
“Yesterday, the Government finally listened to me, to Sinn Féin and to all those who had campaigned so that the derelict sites levy would be collected by Revenue. I compliment Dr. Frank O'Connor and Ms Jude Sherry for the Trojan work they and others have done to highlight the scourge of dereliction. The Government finally brought in this levy for Revenue to collect to ensure that it was collected. For years, millions of euro have been owed to local authorities from either derelict sites that were put on the register and were levied or others that were never put on the register. We welcomed this but you cannot beat Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for the good old loophole.”
“Today is World Vacant Homes Day and in a minute members of the Government will be outside having their photograph taken. The hypocrisy of that is unbelievable. Things are so bad that Fine Gael backbenchers introduced Private Members' legislation in July to try to force the Minister's hand on the matter of CPOs being used. Some Government backbenchers do not believe or have faith in the Ministers. I invite the Minister and Minister of State to walk the streets of Dublin, Cork or Waterford with me and look at the dereliction. It is unbelievable. The Minister of State talked about local authorities having a part to play. Where are the support, funding and staff for local authorities? He spoke about reorganising. Reorganising is only bluff.”
“I am only taking a wild guess, but I am willing to put my reputation on the line by saying there is no way that 400 buildings were purchased under CPOs. Will the Minister of State give a commitment that those figures will be finally released this month?”
“I cannot believe the data is not available. It was supposed to be released in the second quarter of the year and here we are in October 2025 without the data. The Minister said things are going well and progressing but where is the proof? For months, I have submitted a parliamentary question every two or three weeks looking for information on dereliction, such as how many sites are derelict, how many were added to the register, how many were compulsorily purchased and so on. I want to let the Minister of State know that I submitted another question last week. Why is that information being withheld from the Dáil? In 2023, the Government said it would add 400 buildings to the derelict sites register and that 400 of them would be purchased under CPOs.”
“These women have suffered for far too long. Separately, I want to thank the Minister and the Taoiseach. I brought the case of Aisling Thornhill to the attention of the Dáil a couple of weeks ago. Aisling is terminally ill with leukemia. A treatment for her was sought and I want to thank the Minister and the HSE because that treatment is in the process of happening. Aisling has only a short time to live but at least her family knows that everything possible is being done and they asked me to pass on their thanks. Hopefully the treatment will work but if it does not, at least we know that we have all worked together to try to support Aisling and her family. I again thank the Minister for that.”
“Like the Minister, I have attended meetings and met women who have described how they have suffered. Their lives have been hugely impacted. Endometriosis has completely changed their quality of life. It has just been horrendous for them. It is good to hear that the Minister is listening to the patient and it is good to see that a framework has been put in place. I accept her sincerity in this but what I do not want to see is more suffering. These women have suffered enough. What we do not want to see is the HSE organising meetings and a lot of things being said but nothing happening. What the women have told us is that on the ground the diagnosis, treatment and support is not available in Ireland. That is what these women are looking for now. The Minister has outlined the work she is doing but she must deliver a patient-centred service.”
“Parents are heartbroken because they are looking at their children and know that if they do not get support now, it will have a negative effect for the rest of their lives. That cannot be fair.”
“I will follow up on a point made by the Deputy. I have spoken to the representatives of some colleges and they have told me that they have the capacity to deliver more therapists and all the professionals we need. They are saying that if they get the funding and resources, they can meet the challenges. I know UCC is rolling out additional courses. There should be more courses to allow universities to deliver more therapists. Parents tell me they cannot get therapists for their children. They feel their children are regressing. There is nothing more heartbreaking for parents than to see their children not living up to their potential because they are being failed by the State and are not getting the support and therapies they need.”
“Where is the justice for the Palestinian people? We are only a small country but we have a big voice and we have big hearts. The Tánaiste and the Government need to send out a clear message that we will stand with the Palestinian people. We want to protect our own people who are going to aid them. Saoirse don Phalaistín.”
“Irish citizens and any other citizens on the flotilla should not be attacked or victimised in any way, shape or form. These people are going to bring aid and food to starving children. Israel is supported by some of the biggest countries in the world - the Americans, the British, the French and the Italians - who have given them guns so that they can slaughter men, women and children and now they are in the danger zone. Israeli snipers are shooting children dead. The flotilla is trying to bring medical aid and food to children who are starving. Did we ever think it would happen again in our lifetime? How can genocide be allowed to happen in 2025? It is a shame on the Americans, British and Germans for backing the Israelis. How dare they murder people, including children, because they want freedom and justice.”
“I want to read into the record the names of three brave rebels who are now on a flotilla 120 nautical miles from Gaza - Tadhg Hickey, Donna Schwarz and Paddy Cole. They join our friend and comrade, Senator Chris Andrews, and many others who are sailing to Gaza. They are taking their lives in their hands because we know other flotillas have been attacked and people have been murdered. These people are showing bravery in going to Gaza, and to sail in the face of Israeli aggression. They have already been attacked by Israeli military drones. They know they are under threat. The bravery they show is only a fraction of the bravery the Palestinian people show every day. The Government must send a clear message to Israel about the people who are sailing to Gaza.”
“I ask anyone who is listening, if they are sick and tired and fed up seeing good buildings left to rot while people have no homes, to come out on Saturday to support Raise the Roof.”
“What we are looking for is a vacant homes team in each local authority to tackle vacancy and dereliction. I will be honest. We got a response here that sounds great and suggests that there is loads going on. I invite the Minister of State to walk the streets of Dublin with me, and I will also bring him to my home city of Cork, where I will walk him around and show him the dereliction and vacancy. He can list out all the projects but the facts are that houses and buildings are being left to rot in the middle of communities, when we have people who cannot rent or buy and others who are in emergency accommodation. I will say one thing to anyone who is watching or listening. This Saturday at 2.30 p.m. on Grand Parade in Cork city, we are holding a Raise the Roof rally with unions, other left-wing political parties and student unions.”
“I accept that town centre first is a good model. The problem is that only 26 town centres were done in the first three years, between 2021 and 2024, and another 26 have been passed for 2024 and the next three years, as I learned from the answer I got to a parliamentary question. The town centre first policy is a good policy, but it will take 90 years to implement because there are over 800 towns in the State and we are only doing 26 every three years. That is crazy. The Government has a project that is good in principle but it is not funding it and not rolling it out at the level needed to target vacancy and dereliction in town centres. The Minister of State spoke about one vacant homes officer in every local authority. That is a joke. We put pressure on the previous Government to get that one vacant homes officer.”