I thank the Minister of State. He said the majority of local authorities were carrying these surveys out. How many local authorities have carried them out? How much of the stock has been surveyed? Are there available figures that the Minister of State can provide me? Cork City Council has 11,000 properties. As far as I know, no stock survey has been done and the Government want to get rid of the voids programme.
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 2021, the then Minister said it and that the maintenance scheme would be put in place in 2022 and 2023. The Government said that. Is the Minister of State now disagreeing with what the previous Minister said?
We are looking for facts and figures. When will the surveys be done? I have some figures, so I will give the Minister of State an idea of the allocations. The Government is allocating €67.23 per house for lo…
I will provide one more figure. In the area of maintenance, the cost is reckoned to be €1,200, but the Government is giving €63.
The Government has to fund it, though.
The Minister outlined the amount of money given to the tenant in situ scheme. Two weeks ago, I raised with the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, the 33 families in Cork whose houses were sale agreed. Cork City Council was going to buy the houses but on 4 April it informed Cork City Council councillors that there was no money left to go ahead. I was told the Government was going to consider it an…
12. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for an update on the derelict sites levy collection in 2024. [24896/25]
Will the Minister of State provide an update on the amount collected by means of the derelict sites levy in 2024? We know that the derelict sites register and the derelict sites levy together constitute one of the only ways to get at landlords who are hoarding properties and letting them fall into rack and ruin.
As the Minister of State said, the latest figures he has are for 2023. The new figures will arrive e shortly. As the Minister of State outlined, there are 1,913 derelict sites on the register. What is shocking is that only one in three have been levied. Thirteen local authorities applied no levy. Seventeen did not collect even one cent. In 2023, local authorities that applied the levies sought €5.6 million in payment…
Local authorities have a legal obligation to enforce the Derelict Sites Act. They are not doing it. Deputies Browne and Cummins are the Ministers responsible.
It is as simple as that. This is a legal obligation which local authorities have and which is not being enforced. Local authorities also tell me that they do not have the staff or resources to do this work.
In reply to a question I put to him, the previous Mi…
Will there be supplementary questions?
With respect, I just have one question. It relates to Cork.
Okay.
I thank Solidarity and People before Profit for introducing this Bill. I am sure Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett is watching this debate closely today. I wish him all the best. I know everyone else feels the same.
I am a proud Irish republican and also a proud union member, which I have been all my working life. Republicans and workers right across this island – workers are republicans – are building towards an island b…
I apologise.
I apologise, Johnny.
Members go in and out of the Chamber turning their mobile phones on and off. These things happen and I apologise.
I commend my colleagues, especially Deputy O'Rourke, on the work they have done on this Bill. Deputy O'Rourke saw a problem and is putting forward solutions. When the Government created Uisce Éireann, it built a company that was so allergic to transparency and accountability it is like a fortress. It is …
The Minister outlined earlier some of the things this Government is doing but he did not outline the Government's plan to fund critical infrastructure. There is no plan to fund it or to deliver the minimum of 50,000 homes a year we need. There is no commitment to implement the radical strategic reset of housing policy the Government needs to deliver. That was the recommendation of the Housing Commission.
Fianna Fáil…
The Minister of State has outlined a lot of figures, but from the human point of view, I know a lady who had her own business and who had to work part time to look after her mother. She was sanctioned, she was passed for the hours and they had hours Monday to Friday, but on Saturday and Sunday and in the evening, she had to go in. This is a woman with her own family, and she is travelling to look after her mother. Th…
I sincerely wish the Minister every success. The elective hospital in Cork is supposed to be ready next year. It is now at design stage and will go to planning next year. It is years behind schedule. We were promised an elective hospital 20 years ago. The Minister is new in her role and I cannot land this on her shoulders, but I can land it on the shoulders of the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members who made promises e…
Sinn Féin policy-----
Answer the question.
104. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Social Protection for details of the review into the hot school meals programme. [21369/25]
I ask the Minister for details of and a review into the hot school meals programme.
Perhaps the Minister will elaborate on this but from my understanding is that of the 2,220 schools participating in the programme, only 14 will be assessed this year. That is fewer than one in five schools. The review has been announced but we need to know the terms of reference as well. Will the Minister come back on that? How long will the review take? He said he hopes to have the review on his desk by the end of t…
I agree with the Minister that we need the highest standards of nutrition, especially when dealing with young children so I support that. I have a couple of concerns. The same funding of €3.20 per meal and portion size is given to children ranging from junior infants to sixth class, that i,s from children as young as four to the age of 12. I am not sure if the Minister has kids but I have two girls and I recall when …