Results 3,441-3,460 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Cost Rental Tenant In Situ Scheme: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (21 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: I will wind up now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Cost Rental Tenant In Situ Scheme: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (21 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: I thank the Minister. We will extend a further invite to catch up on Housing for All at some point and we look forward to doing that.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (20 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: 160. To ask the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 475 of 11 September 2023, if he will confirm the anomaly, which was acknowledged by him whereby foster children are treated differently in approved retirement fund legislation, will be rectified in the context of the upcoming budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40169/23]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Reliefs (20 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: 166. To ask the Minister for Finance the position regarding a review of the level of pension contributions that qualify for the higher rate of tax relief introduced in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40311/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (20 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: 271. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding the pathfinder energy retrofit project for a school (details supplied); if she will provide a timeline for the commencement of works; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39683/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (20 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: 317. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 689 of 11 September 2023, if she will request a review of the current HSCL allocation to a school (details supplied), as the current allocation does not reflect the DEIS status of the school; if her Department can engage with the school management directly; and if she will make a statement on the matter....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (20 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: 324. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a new school building (details supplied); how updates are being communicated to school management; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40111/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (20 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: 326. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a new school building for a school (details supplied); how updates are being communicated to school management; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40113/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: I thank those members who declared an interest because it is beneficial to this committee to have people with such farming experience and from a farming background. It is a complex area and the more I engage with farmers, the more I learn about it. I do not think members having an interest is a difficulty. Where it does become a difficulty is when people point a finger at an independent...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: I appreciate that much of this was before the Minister's time as it goes back to 1991, which is a long time ago. We are on the fifth nitrates action programme. The first was introduced in 2006. Did every action that was recommended and required take place and was this audited and monitored? Did we have auditing and monitoring of all the recommendations and actions required under our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: Would a larger inspection programme help? Is it practicable to do this? I note that the Minister spoke about assistance in his opening statement. I will come to that in a moment. In my view, it is a matter of more information, more assistance and more education, although I do not like to use word "education". It is a matter of showing farmers how to do this. If we were to up that, would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: Aside from the nitrates action programme recommendations, when the EPA was in there was reference to Timoleague, where a much more rapid frequency of water testing is being carried out on a micro level. There is some suggestion that there have been improvements in water quality there, but my understanding is that essentially it is following the same trends as we have seen in the EPA report....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: But are there extra actions? Are other, extra technologies being used in those six testing areas in Timoleague?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: There are not. Is it the exact same as what is contained-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: Is it the case that it is just more carefully managed, observed and reported on in Timoleague? If so, the suggestion would be that if we had that same level of monitoring, reporting and inspection across the country, we would see the same results countrywide as we see in Timoleague.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: That is the direction I want to go in and not how we got here because I think many people are aware of how we got to this situation. It is not a surprise because we have seen that trend in deteriorating water quality. Many of the NGOs, which come in for a lot of criticism, such as The Sustainable Water Network, SWAN, and An Taisce, etc., have highlighted this for many years. The Commission...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Ireland's Water Quality and the Nitrates Derogation: Discussion (15 Sep 2023)

Steven Matthews: I thank the Minister. There is a political responsibility on every one of us as public representatives not to go out and blame. Some parties blame this on a flawed process and others criticise the messenger - the highly-competent, experienced and dependable EPA reports. That is not the way this will be solved. It will be solved by ensuring farmers have the supports they need to protect...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Steven Matthews: I thank the Chair for the opportunity to contribute. I am not a member of the committee, so I appreciate that opportunity, as I do the work of the EPA. I have been reading the EPA's reports for over 20 years. Going right back, I remember the 1999 environmental indicators report. It was one of those reports that made me sit up and say that something needs to be done about the degradation...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Water Quality Monitoring Report: Discussion (19 Jul 2023)

Steven Matthews: I remember the name but it is very hard to pronounce.