Results 461-480 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: That is fine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: Does the Senator wish to direct any of those questions to the SWAN representatives?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: Yes, we have time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: The EPA's task is to protect and improve the environment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: I would like to return to the 6% figure, where the EPA said that 6% of water courses are under pressure from water abstractions. If water is abstracted from a water body the volume of water is potentially reduced or at times of low flow 25 cu. m or more may have a greater impact than at times of higher flow. All water that gets abstracted from whatever source, ends up somewhere else, which...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: I thank Ms Gurrie. On the registration process can she tell us what exactly is involved in the process for an abstractor? How complex and onerous is it to register? As I understand it the heads abstraction is not metered but only done on estimate. A person may be abstracting 27 cu. m but that may be estimated as only 24 cu. m. What is involved in the registration process, both from the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: Okay. On the abstractions themselves, how difficult would it be for all of them to be metered and recorded? How onerous would that be for an abstractor, if the witnesses can answer that? I know there are many different forms of extractor-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: -----and if it is a business or industry or if it is a temporary one it may be more difficult. That being said, how difficult is it to fit a meter so the EPA could at some point, randomly or selectively, look at the abstraction rates?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: My question for SWAN is on the measuring of abstractions, would it be aware where the 10 m. threshold is in Northern Ireland or Scotland or Wales? Do they meter abstractions to measure it or is that done by abstractions as well? Does anybody have that information?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: One last question on the water framework directive and that letter from October that we are not fulfilling this aspect of it. What other aspects of the directive are we not currently fulfilling?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: I thank Ms O'Brien. Just to summarise, what I am saying is that this Bill is aimed at registering, monitoring and licensing of water abstractions. The data we have has up to this point been held by local authorities and was a bit vague or incomplete. We are now on threshold limits and I think we are all agreed that we should be licensing, monitoring and measuring the impacts of all these....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: Much of that will be covered in the hydromorphology studies that our guests are in the process of carrying out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: Do any of our other guests wish to comment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: There are 30 seconds remaining. I ask the Deputy to be as quick as he can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: Deputy Gould would like a comparison, in one minute, of the regulations in Northern Ireland and what is proposed in this Bill.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: I thank Dr. McGoff. I am afraid, however, that we cannot have witnesses questioning other witnesses. It is for the members to do that, but I appreciate the point being made.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Water Environment (Abstractions) Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: I have about a minute left for myself. There are many more questions we want to ask and there will be further work for the committee on this. We did not get the opportunity, I do not think, to go too far into the environmental impact assessment of existing abstractions which would require licensing. That is an area we need to look into further. On the registration process, we seem to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (10 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: 456. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there are provisions being considered to supplement public transport with additional school transport particularly under level 5 restrictions which reduced capacity on public transport to the point to which it is inaccessible to many students. [34945/20]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Fees (10 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: 575. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to a campaign by students applying for the graduate entry medicine course in UCD in relation to the increasing fees for this particular course of study; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34947/20]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Legislative Programme (10 Nov 2020)

Steven Matthews: 639. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if there is an approximate timeframe for the drafting of the family courts Bill announced in September 2020. [35224/20]