Results 4,841-4,860 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: Under the Maritime Area Planning Act, local authorities are responsible for the area to three miles out. I would imagine that 99% of the observations that may be made by members of the public will be from the land or close to the shore. If people phone a local authority to say they think something is going on with regard to the environment or planning, the local authority is probably best...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: I was about to wrap up the meeting but Deputy Gould arrived just in time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: We have just spent the past minutes some time discussing that subject and we covered it well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: It was raised by Deputy Ó Broin regarding non-compliance and pre-existing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: For Deputy Gould's benefit, as I am not sure if he was here, we said we would meet user groups next week and environmental groups the following week. We may seek a briefing session at which the committee can provide feedback. We would like to proceed then to compile our pre-legislative scrutiny report to allow the Bill to be put together. Is that okay with members?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: I appreciate that. I thank Mr. Cronin, Dr. Ó Cadhla, Dr. O’Higgins and Mr. O’Connor for their engagement in this three-hour session. It has been helpful and informative for members. I also thank them for the considerable work they put into getting this proposal to this stage. Members appreciate it and we will not delay in playing our part in enacting this legislation in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: 283. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to cases of car insurance quotes increasing significantly from previous years, despite no significant change in the circumstances of the applicant; the efforts he is making to engage with this sector to avoid this financial impact on customers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4771/23]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Planning Issues (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: 346. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the details regarding SI 664 of 2022, Planning and Development Act 2000 (Exempted Development) (Number 5) Regulations 2022; if the process whereby this was introduced will be outlined; the reason for same; and if a detailed explanatory note will be provided to all Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, supplementary to...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: 469. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to concerns regarding the lack of accommodation for practical subjects and other facilities in a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4723/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Departmental Programmes (1 Feb 2023)

Steven Matthews: 120. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the schools' energy retrofit pathfinder programme; the number of schools supported to date under this programme; the proposed number to be funded in 2023 and 2024, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4083/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: Today we are meeting to resume discussion of the general scheme of the marine protected areas Bill 2023. This is the second meeting on this matter. The third meeting will be held on Thursday and then we will prepare our pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, report including our recommendations from these meetings. I welcome Professor Tasman Crowe who is professor of marine ecology, director of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: Head 16 covers a little of what Senator Fitzpatrick is talking about. The question is whether to constitute this as a permanent advisory body or have somebody come in from time to time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: There are a couple of issues that Deputy Ó Broin did not have time to get to. We will come back to them in subsequent rounds of questioning. I note that the committee last week raised the issue around the four-week consultation period with the Department. It said it would look at that. I do not think, in respect of the 2030 targets, that extending the four-week consultation period to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: This may be a very obvious question but the area we are talking about is the area we have defined under the Maritime Jurisdiction Act. This is what we describe as our sea area, being seven times the size of our landmass area. Does that put a great deal of pressure on us compared with a country that might have a large landmass but a small sea area in respect of its 30% designations? Will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: That is fair enough. I just wanted to clarify that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: For clarity for people who may not know, how is inshore defined versus offshore in nautical miles?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (resumed) (31 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: That leads me on to where we were up to quite recently, where we only had 2%, or slightly more than that, of special areas of conservation, SACs, and special protection area, SPA, designations for the most part, which we were calling marine protected areas. We moved then to 8%, where we are at the moment, and we are approaching 10%, but we want to reach this target of 30% by 2030. We often...