Thomas Gould

As I listened to some of the other speakers, I thought about some of the comments the Minister made at the housing committee and in this Chamber. I just do not get it. The Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, are intelligent people. We have seen the housing crisis go from a crisis to an emergency. We know that homelessness is off the charts and homelessness is only recorded as peo…

I support this amendment. I had a gentleman come to me a few weeks ago. He is a paramedic working in the ambulance service and he was homeless. He went through a relationship break-up. He could find nowhere to rent. He has a good job and is working. The only service he could be offered in Cork was Simon Community Night Light. You go in at 11 o'clock at night and leave at 8 o'clock in the morning. …

The Minister of State said no one has a monopoly on compassion. I have a couple of questions for him and the Minister. How many children must become homeless before they admit their policies are wrong and are contributing to making homelessness worse? It is a straightforward question. Will they give a commitment that this Bill will not drive up rents? Everyone on this side of the Chamber and every…

I have asked the Minister straight questions. At least, we should get answers to those questions. The Minister said a while ago that there will be a review in 12 months. If that review does not show an improvement in matters, will the Government fall on its sword, admit it is wrong and at least let the Opposition bring forward solutions? I asked three other questions about the rise in rents, the r…

14. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht his plans to reopen the shovel ready community centre scheme. [8050/26]

Will the Minister update the House on his plans to reopen the shovel-ready community centre scheme? This is a really important scheme for communities and it must be reopened.

I welcome the investment in existing community centres in order to refurbish them. A lot of them are just old and need investment. I support that but I am very disappointed by the Minister's lack of commitment to reopening the shovel-ready projects scheme that was there. I have a few examples. The Fairfield community association is operating out of a house it owns in Fairfield. It deals with hundr…

The Minister is expecting volunteers who work with kids in the community to be planners, engineers, administrators or negotiators. If they are trying to get a project over the line, it all falls on the volunteers. We have another situation in St. Joseph's Community Centre in Mayfield. That has now passed planning so this will bring a state-of-the-art library and community centre to Mayfield but t…

Hear, hear

Stop, stop

Twenty years-----

He who is without sin

This is another example of legislation being rushed through so the Minister appears to be taking action instead of simply taking action. Just two weeks ago, I sat on the housing committee where we dealt with dozens of typos in the planning Bill. This is legislation that has been enacted but that was also rushed through. We in the Opposition warned about the problems with rushing through legislati…

You sold your soul.

You sold your soul and you sold out the farming community-----

You sold your soul.

Bord Bia's mission statement states "We champion responsible food production" and that it promises to show Irish food in a way that is "inspirational, empowering, and exciting." Those are beautiful words. At the same time, the man at the top is bringing beef in from Brazil and the Government thinks that is all right. The Government tried to sell Irish farmers down the river with the Mercosur deal.…

I am sorry; I meant Bord Bia.

I have to say this, Deputy Healy-Rae.

No, let me just finish.

Does the Minister think it is right-----

-----that the head of Bord Bia can bring in Brazilian beef? It is a straight question for the Minister.

Is it right that the head of Bord Bia can bring in Brazilian beef and keep his job? Does the Minister think that is right? It is a straight question.

Regeneration is not just a word. It is a lifeline for communities that have been neglected for years. In Cork, we have the north-west quarter regeneration. I attended the first meeting in September 2000, 26 years ago. Twenty-six years later, only 99 homes have been built and delivered. Less than €100 million has been spent, which is less than €4 million a year. At the same time, regeneration in Li…

The Minister of State mentioned the seed funding. The seed funding was actually a very good idea, although I will come in here and criticise, argue and disagree with the Government. However, there was a decision to cut it back last year. While €1 million was needed for community projects, only €450,000 was allocated, which was less than half. I think it was actually €1.2 million that was needed bu…