Go raibh maith agat.
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
Like the previous speaker, I do not doubt the Minister of State's sincerity, but it is a load of bull. I will be honest. I will be straight with him. Every year we come here and parents of children with additional needs are being let down. One Minister after another comes in with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste telling us all they are doing. However, people have children with additional needs at home who cannot get to sch…
What about Covid?
I will just give the Minister of State some figures. Before Covid-19, in the first quarter of 2019, 5,175 children got dental screenings in Cork city. In the first quarter of this year, it was 4,938. There were fewer children seen in the first quarter of 2025 than there were in the first quarter of 2019. We must factor in that during the Covid years, screening went below 2,500.
There is a crisis now in dental care f…
Child poverty has doubled in a year.
Child poverty has doubled in 12 months.
Hear, hear.
Come on now. Fair is fair.
There are 121 people in the HR department in the south west. The Minister talks about progressing this Bill, but I believe it is bluff and smoke and mirrors. It is trying to pretend that there will be proper accountability and value for money in the HSE. Even though 121 people are working in the HR department in the south west, €250,000 was paid to private consultants in 2023. Who brought this private firm in and why…
As the Minister of State knows, Pride is a protest. In recent years, we have seen companies and large multinationals join Pride. In many ways, that has been welcome and positive for those who work in those companies. It sends out a positive message that they are accepted and recognised as a part of these companies, and that their workplaces are safe. That is a good thing for those people. However, in all the positivi…
When people look back at the decisions taken by the Minister and the Government on this legislation, academics and the people who end up living in these tiny apartments will ask what was going through their minds. Who made this decision?
I will give an example of how governments get it wrong. I come from Knocknaheeny. When Knocknaheeny was built 50 years ago, perhaps because of the financial situation of the country…
The Minister made a comment earlier that this is the size of the apartments in Austria. Will people pay the same rents? The Minister might check that out for us because I can tell him they will not. If he is making a comparison he should make the whole comparison. My big worry is there is a major development going in Cork's docklands. We are looking at maybe 10,000 units. The Minister was there, as was I, and the Tao…
The Taoiseach blames that for everything.
A couple of days ago, I got a phone call from a guy I knew. He saw the Minister talk about the commission of investigation. His voice was very low when I was talking to him. A member of his family was in the house and he did not want them to hear what he was talking to me about because of the shame and stigma that are still there. He did nothing wrong; he is a victim and a survivor. People want justice and for their …
There were women in the Public Gallery tonight. I spoke with some of them earlier and listened to their stories. A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting in Cork where people told their horrific stories. Here I am a 6 ft 5 in. man talking about women's health and women's period pains. I have no idea. I believe the Minister is a decent person so I ask her not to let the bureaucracy, the Department or the men in this Gove…
These people want her to lead the way. As a woman and as Minister for Health, she has the ability to do that. I implore her to do it. There are girls who have given up sport and who cannot go to school. Education is needed here. There are girls and women who every month cannot go to work or are out of work for long periods. They have lost their jobs and lost their friends, because they have not been able to go to thi…
In politics, we politically disagree on many issues. Can we not come together on this issue? Can we not park the politics and for once let the women of Ireland be listened to? For far too long, they were sent home to suffer in silence, but no longer.
92. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht for an update on Ballyvolane community centre. [38279/25]
Ballyvolane is a fabulous community. For decades it has been promised a community centre and for decades Government promises have failed to deliver. Will the Minister outline supports and when the community centre will finally be delivered for Ballyvolane?
I thank the Minister for his response but, unfortunately, once again there is nothing there for Ballyvolane. He made the point there has been no application. I have been hearing about a community centre in Ballyvolane for decades. I have attended meetings. How was a community centre not given funding or prioritised in all that time? Over 2,000 houses are planned for the Ballyvolane area on top of the hundreds of hous…
A new development is going up in Lahardane with hundreds of homes. There is to be a site there for a specific building for a community centre. You could not swing a cat in it, no disrespect. What we want is a proper community centre delivered for the people of Ballyvolane, for the existing residents and the new residents who will come there. We want to see services provided in the community. I was recently at a meeti…
I wish to correct a comment the Tánaiste made earlier. Israeli citizens do not need a visa to enter Ireland to stay up to 90 days for tourism, visiting family or friends or attending business. In other words, there is apartheid operating in this country as well, whereby people in Palestine, which Israel considers part of Israel, need to jump through every hoop in the book to get into this country, whereas Israeli cit…
-----are living in hell. Does the Tánaiste know that if they do not get here now, some of them will not be around for the next one because some of them will probably be slaughtered by the Israelis? I am pleading with the Tánaiste. I am begging him now-----
-----for the sake of the children. We he let them play?
That is from the website.