Results 9,581-9,600 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Arrangements to Protect Democracy and Ballot Integrity: Discussion (24 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: My last question is on posters. Posters are the part of the campaign nobody likes at all. They play a role because when the posters go up everybody knows there is an election on, so they are beneficial in some way. However, it is about the proliferation of them. There are candidates putting up 1,000 or 1,200 posters across a constituency. It is absolutely ridiculous. It should really be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Arrangements to Protect Democracy and Ballot Integrity: Discussion (24 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: They name and shame, yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Arrangements to Protect Democracy and Ballot Integrity: Discussion (24 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: They do. I am not saying we should ban posters. I am thinking of a cap and a limit so we are all out there with maybe 100 posters. If we all have 100 posters then each poster has the same impact.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Arrangements to Protect Democracy and Ballot Integrity: Discussion (24 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: That is true, but how many of us have-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Arrangements to Protect Democracy and Ballot Integrity: Discussion (24 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: That is grand. I thank Mr. O'Leary.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Arrangements to Protect Democracy and Ballot Integrity: Discussion (24 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: That does not always happen either.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Arrangements to Protect Democracy and Ballot Integrity: Discussion (24 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: I have seen political parties not having the name of the printer on posters, who erected them or whose name it is. There is nothing at all on them. I thank the witnesses for their attendance and for the work they do in promoting and protecting our democracy, because it is critically important and comes under threat from time to time. Before we finish, I want to make a point about security...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Electoral Arrangements to Protect Democracy and Ballot Integrity: Discussion (24 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: I thank the witnesses for attending. We will reconvene for a private meeting at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, 1 October 2024.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: Sorry to interrupt, but has the OPW constructed any other structure of significant cost within Leinster House or the Department of Finance?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: To clarify, will the OPW be able to issue us with the cost breakdown of the security hut?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: Does the OPW have to run that by the Minister of State first like it did with the bike shelter?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: If we could get that as soon as possible, I would appreciate it. Mr. Conlon stated that signing off on that level of expenditure - €1.5 million – would be done by an assistant secretary.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: Does the Minister of State have eyes on that? Does the assistant secretary sit down with him and go through those items?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: At what point of expenditure does the Minister of State get brought into the equation and get eyes on a project as the manager of a department?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: The voted budget for the OPW last year was how much?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: I will ask about other aspects of the OPW’s work, if that is okay. The OPW is responsible for the management of Garda stations, including their grounds and buildings.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: I am considering an idea to do with a Garda station in County Wicklow. I will not name the location because I have not spoken widely about the matter, but my idea has to do with the installation of a playground on the station’s grounds. There seems to be quite a deal of land around it and we are stuck for space in the small village in question. Would the OPW consider assessing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: In principle, is it something the OPW would be willing to look at?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: Fair enough. Is the OPW a prescribed body for planning applications under the planning Act?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Engagement with Office of Public Works (25 Sep 2024)

Steven Matthews: I want to draw the OPW's attention to a strategic infrastructure development that is being proposed in Wicklow. It is a very large quarry, Ballinclare quarry, and is quite close to Kilmacurragh, for which the OPW has responsibility. That is not a live planning application at present. As I understand it, it is going through non-statutory public consultation at the moment. It is not a live...