Results 1-20 of 1,734 for at speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (2 Feb 2023)

Steven Matthews: We are at 8%. We were at 2.3% until quite recently, we were at 8% now and we are heading for 10%. That is not marine protected areas as such because we do not have marine protected areas. It is in process at the moment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Monuments and Archaeological Heritage Bill: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (3 Feb 2022)

Steven Matthews: A series of hill forts at Kilranelagh in Wicklow has been recommended to me as being potentially at the UNESCO level. I would like to talk to our guests about that at another stage. I think there is a planning application in train at the moment so I do not want to discuss it now.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (2 Jun 2022)

Steven Matthews: I want to ask the Minister about the public electric vehicle, EV, charging network. I am aware there is funding for local authorities to install EV charging points and there is a public consultation going on at the moment. However, there seems to be some delay in the roll-out. I am not sure if the difficulty is at local authority level or in trying to get an ESB connection. Most of us...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Recent Trends in the Private Rental Sector: Residential Tenancies Board (29 Nov 2022)

Steven Matthews: I think it is something that we would like more research on to get some clarity on that. We have a rent freeze, essentially, at the moment in rent pressure zones with a maximum increase of 2% but I hear many people calling for a rent freeze for periods of two or three years. Some of the reading I have done around it suggests that if you were to freeze rents at the moment, and you would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Urban and Rural Regeneration: Discussion (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Steven Matthews: I have heard the Deputy raise that issue in the Dáil Chamber as well. I agree with him. Is the Law Reform Commission looking at compulsory sales orders? We have heard talk about compulsory sales orders and we know about CPO. Are compulsory sales orders on the agenda at all? I know Scotland was looking at them but it ran into constitutional difficulties.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (16 Apr 2024)

Steven Matthews: May I respond on that one? I am in no way suggesting that the fee associated with observations be included because that is a really important part of the planning process. The fee for a submission to the local authority sits at €20 while the fee for an observation to the board sits at €50. This amendment is not designed to increase those fees in any way. We have had...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Shannon Foynes Port Company: Chairperson Designate (Resumed) (19 Apr 2023)

Steven Matthews: It is great to hear Mr. McGarry talk about the advancements in the past two to three years. Obviously, we have had this vision for a long time and it is great to be in a position to be able actually to action that and to hear independent observers like him acknowledge that it is important to us. We then have to move on to that next step and look at it at that higher level. We have that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Broadband Plan Update: National Broadband Ireland (27 Jan 2022)

Steven Matthews: The main companies have difficulties in finding faults at the moment. In looking at a project such as this, one should always keep an eye on the future and ask whether it can be expanded somewhere. This is a national roll-out of fibre to the home. I live in an urban area where I thought I had good fibre connectivity, like lots of us did, until everybody started using devices at the same...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Land Development Agency: Chairman Designate (20 Jan 2022)

Steven Matthews: I thank Mr. Coleman. A point he made earlier regarding passive house standards at the Shanganagh development is of interest to me. I remember being ridiculed at a council meeting about five years ago for suggesting that local authorities should try to build to passive house standards. I was told that I lived in a parallel Green universe and that it would never happen. I am glad to see...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: National Marine Planning Framework: Discussion (6 Apr 2021)

Steven Matthews: It is my turn to come back in again. To go back to the mapping tool that was discussed, could that be live updated, or updated as progress is made? I am looking at the map for the waste water treatment plants, where there is untreated disposal going on at the moment. A number of those plants are in an advanced stage of planning, funding and construction. Will those maps be updated as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Capital Projects and Operations: Iarnród Éireann (24 Jan 2024)

Steven Matthews: Mr. Meade and his team are welcome. They are always willing to engage and come into the committee, as well as at local authority level. I was at Wicklow County Council when his team came in. It was the first time I floated the idea of the DART extension to Wicklow town. I am glad to see it is making progress. At the start, the Leas-Chathaoirleach provided a litany of what some people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development Bill 2022: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Mar 2023)

Steven Matthews: That is good. Section 57 provides the councillors with the ability to vary a development plan at any stage, not at the five-year review. At that stage, councillors have an opportunity to feed into the variation, make recommendations and pass resolutions on that. Am I correct that the five-year review is not for lodging new objections and is just a review, and that section 57 is where the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Business of Select Committee (16 Nov 2022)

Steven Matthews: ...Doherty on the benefits and advantages of deep retrofitting much of our housing stock across the country. He is right. Not enough has been done in the past. However, the energy retrofit scheme that was recently introduced has been cited at European level as one of the better and best designed energy retrofit schemes out there. These things take time. It takes time to build up 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: 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: Scrutiny of Homeless Prevention Bill 2020, Tenancy Protection Bill 2023 and Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2022: Private Members' Bills (14 Dec 2023)

Steven Matthews: ...thank Deputy Ó Broin. As I am not overly familiar with this Tyrrelstown amendment, I have a couple of questions on it. The Deputies are obviously much more experienced in respect of this issue. At the point at which the notice to quit, the notice of termination, is served, the tenant then goes to the RTB with it but who works out that ten or more people are being evicted at the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Energy Performance of Buildings Directive: Discussion (28 Apr 2022)

Steven Matthews: Nothing speaks louder than watching the cost of energy usage add up on a screen in cent and euro while you are sitting at home and looking at it. It makes people ask why 3 kWh of electricity is being used in the house at that moment and wonder what has been left on or who is using it. The information is there for people rather than lecturing them on what the costs are or telling them not to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Draft Planning and Development (LRD Fees) Regulations 2021: Motion (2 Dec 2021)

Steven Matthews: In addition, I refer to the importance of full and proper public consultation throughout many of these processes. It was my experience when I was a councillor, and probably that of many of the other committee members and the Minister of State, that the more meetings there are with people to discuss the potential, the possibilities and the likelihood in the context of all the things that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Transport Research Arena Event in April 2024: Discussion (18 Oct 2023)

Steven Matthews: I welcome the witnesses. I agree with Senator Doherty that it is quite an exciting time, not just for the conference, but also for Ireland when we put it in the context of the programme for Government agreement, where we agreed to spend the transport budget 2:1 on public transport over new roads, and also the significant negotiation around active travel spend. Ireland is in a position where...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Scrutiny of Homeless Prevention Bill 2020, Tenancy Protection Bill 2023 and Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2022: Private Members' Bills (14 Dec 2023)

Steven Matthews: We are dealing with the legislation that is in front of us at present. I thank Deputy Ó Broin for bringing it to the committee. At the beginning of the meeting we discussed the format, which is that the sponsor of a Bill will present to the committee. There will be further Stages after this and this in itself is not the entirety of committee scrutiny. It is up to the committee,...