Results 6,061-6,080 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: That is fine. We will go to Independent slot. I am happy to bring in the Deputy now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: I did a significant amount of research on compulsory sales orders about a year and a half ago. I also engaged the Oireachtas Library and Research Service on the issue. I thought Scotland had run into difficulties in this regard. It stalled there because it is extremely complex. I agree that it is something that could be utilised but I believe we should go for the less complex and quicker...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: I will take the next slot. It was mentioned that this committee has been discussing vacancy and dereliction for the past six years. The conversation has probably gone on a lot longer than that, but it is safe to say that there has never been such a concerted effort to address dereliction and vacancy as we have seen during the term of this Government, including targets being set. The fact...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: I thank the Senator. It is important to acknowledge that the Croí Cónaithe scheme was only introduced in July last year. It has been in place for 11 months. These things take time to bed in. Many people came to me before I had all the information. It takes three to six months for people to decide to go for it. I expect it to get better. I recommend the Department adds the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: Let us say we will settle with the GeoDirectory- I am conscious that staff are out in the field in 18 local authorities and will probably improve the information - would it be possible to provide a layer of data to say what the vacancy rates are in a particular electoral district as opposed to in the larger blocks we seem to be reporting on at the moment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: I get that point. I wonder what work we can do to try to address those anomalies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: As time goes on we will get more data and information. Everyone agreed when we were preparing that report, that getting to the lower level information is helpful, not only the numbers but also the condition scoring. I will ask a question about the derelict sites levy. We used to have a vacant site levy which is being changed to a zoned land tax, which is Revenue based. A vacant homes...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: When the local authority envelope drops through the door with the local authority crest on it, people might be likely not to respond to it. When the harp drops through the door, there is a much greater response. We have generally been moving to a tax, with the vacant homes tax and by going from a vacant homes levy to a zoned land tax. It would be a natural progression for the derelict...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: If the register were to be compiled based on observations and people reporting derelict sites, the local authority would say "there is the register" and leave it to Revenue to collect the tax. It would relieve them of the burden of having to collect the levy. The levy is obviously not being collected in many cases. The reports suggest that. Revenue has a much better record of collecting....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: We might find out who the owners are then. It might drive out the owners.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: There would be quite a lot of initial work but the ongoing management of that would not involve as much work. The local authorities would know the site is still derelict just with a drive-by. Has that been considered in the review of the derelict sites legislation that is going on at the moment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: That would be helpful.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: They can be on the derelict sites register but not required to pay a levy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: That is up to each local authority and it is at their discretion if they wish to do it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: That should be tightened up.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: I appreciate that and it is quite a workload for the local authorities to chase down all of those activation measures. It is better to engage with the owner than to just slap a tax on them. I would prefer the view to be “We could achieve something better here” rather than “We are going to penalise you.” I am looking for the figures for Limerick for 2020....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: I was just referring to 2020.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: If Revenue was to collect it and return it to the local authority, that would be a better system and, like the local property tax, it comes back to the local authority even though it is Revenue that collects it. My sense is it is best to try to relieve the local authorities of the task of chasing people for a levy, to let them do the good work they do in identifying the site and leave that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Dereliction and Vacancy: Discussion (15 Jun 2023)

Steven Matthews: I have a question for the Department. We brought in the planning exemptions with limitations whereby people no longer need planning permission to convert a former commercial building to residential use. There is the process of fire certification, accessibility certification and notification to the local authority, and, in some cases, conservation certification. Has there been any thought...