In 2016 a new prison was opened in The Glen in Cork and the old prison was closed down. A commitment was made at the time by the Tánaiste's Government, which he was a Minister in, and by the Irish Prison Service that the old prison would not be reopened and would be used by the community for education and training, or maybe as a museum. The republican Thomas Kent was shot by firing squad there. There was supposed to …
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
In Greystones?
Are there two of them there?
There are two in The Glen.
I am not shouting. I am just saying there are two prisons.
That is fine.
What about the promises that were made to the community? What about the promises that you and your Government made? They were promised in 2016. It is a residential area.
What about tenants in situ, or the tenant in situ scheme? Where has that money gone?
Two weeks ago, Cork City Council announced an affordable housing scheme. This will be delivered through the Department's funding and by Cork City Council. There is shock that it will cost just under €400,000 to buy one of these properties. For years people who cannot get a mortgage and who do not qualify for social housing have been contacting my office and I have been telling them about affordable housing. Those peo…
I move:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes that:
— there are at least 2,656 vacant council homes, excluding Approved Housing Bodies (AHB) homes, across the State, including 776 homes vacant longer than 12 months;
— the National Oversight and Audit Commission Performance Indicator Report 2023, found that the average reletting time was above 33 weeks and cost, on average, €28,347.05;
— this reletting cost represents a 49 pe…
Will the Minister think of the families? I ask him to reconsider his motion and to support ours.
I did one last month and the figure is 2,700.
No. The figure we mentioned was €11,000.
That is the same thing
The authority did not have the money.
It did not have the money.
The Minister is having a laugh when he is blaming local authorities when he will not do his job.
They are not getting the money.
You are the Minister. Is he the Minister?
He was asking me a question.
That is not true.
That is not true. That is not true.
The Government will not give the local authority the money.
I will bring forward a solution. Right across this Chamber, people have outlined how there are vacant boarded up houses in every constituency. We are criticised by those in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, who ask where our solution is. This is the solution. It is a genuine attempt to make a difference to hundreds if not thousands of families but the Government has dismissed it. The most disgusting thing about the Governme…
Níl.