The prices are through the roof.
TDs / Thomas Gould
Thomas Gould
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
1,097
questions asked
Oral and written, to government departments
103,260
words spoken in the chamber
Across 660 contributions
356
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
211
topics asked about
Across 20 departments
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
What they ask about
The subject headings the Oireachtas filed their questions under.
Who they ask
The departments their questions were addressed to.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Questions asked 1,097 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Contributions to debates 660 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions | Contributions |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 26 | 5 |
| February 2025 | 50 | 16 |
| March 2025 | 43 | 29 |
| April 2025 | 42 | 29 |
| May 2025 | 37 | 54 |
| June 2025 | 33 | 46 |
| July 2025 | 126 | 54 |
| August 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 31 | 16 |
| October 2025 | 36 | 46 |
| November 2025 | 74 | 81 |
| December 2025 | 85 | 29 |
| January 2026 | 55 | 20 |
| February 2026 | 66 | 52 |
| March 2026 | 43 | 25 |
| April 2026 | 76 | 19 |
| May 2026 | 80 | 30 |
| June 2026 | 46 | 14 |
| July 2026 | 101 | 35 |
| August 2026 | 0 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 21 | 22 |
| October 2026 | 26 | 38 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 403 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Asked about similar topics
Worked out by computer from the subject headings of each TD's questions, giving more weight to headings few TDs use. It shows shared subjects, not shared views.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Cork North-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
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…
I am delighted the Minister said that. This is the pass-the-buck Government, blaming local authorities, which are not being funded. Deputy Browne is the Minister for housing, not the local authority.
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 giv…
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-----
The Minister shook his head and said no.
Ah, Minister.
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 wa…
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.
Once again, the Government is leaving out ordinary people.
These are facts. I will send the Minister the details if he wants them.
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 …
3. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the number of compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, completed under the CPO activation programme and an update on the long-promised legislation to reform the CPO process as recommended by the Law Reform Commission. [54229/25]
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 th…
I want to make that point.
Will the Minister of State give that commitment today?
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 Minist…
They are not working.
In three years' time. There will not be-----
When will it be delivered?
Will the Minister of State walk with me?
I will organise that.
Perhaps Deputy Hearne will come with us.
Is the Minister of State going to vote against it?
The Minister of State sold his soul for a Ministry.