Results 3,461-3,480 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

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

Steven Matthews: We have seen this trend where nitrates are in water. This is not a once-off test. This is not like going out and taking a water sample and testing it in a laboratory and saying, "There is a high level of nitrates here." We have seen this trend over the years and we can correlate those trends back to activities that happened in the catchment and contributed to the water quality. That is...

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

Steven Matthews: There is a health implication from nitrates. The evidence we see there is a connection back to agricultural run-off. What is the nature of the agricultural run-off that contributes to nitrates? Will the witnesses explain to people who might be listening and who might not be as familiar with the expertise that is in the room here? Would that be slurries, animal wastes, excessive use of...

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

Steven Matthews: Is it that certain soils, therefore, do not leech as much nitrates but free-flowing soils, especially where there are high volumes of cattle are a problem?

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

Steven Matthews: That is a problem. That is highlighted on the map. Will Dr. Deakin just explain to me how phosphates get into our rivers and estuaries? What are the health implications of phosphates?

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

Steven Matthews: When there are high phosphate levels we end up with eutrophied water systems that have the oxygen drained out of them. What is the impact that can have on that water when taken into a drinking water plant? Does a high level of phosphate impact on the process and the quality of the drinking water from that plant?

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

Steven Matthews: I will just go back to nitrates. We often hear about E. coli. E. coli coliforms are everywhere but there is a particular strain of which indicates animal or human waste from the internal guts of animals or humans. How does that end up in our water systems? What is the human health implication of E. coli?

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

Steven Matthews: Of course, one cannot separate human health from having a properly balanced and properly performing ecosystem. When there are damaged systems, it impacts on the aquatic ecology and the entire ecological food chain. We have discussed wastewater treatment plants today. Does Uisce Éireann set out all of the wastewater treatment plants for which it is responsible, the measures that are...

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

Steven Matthews: I suppose Irish Water is very much dependent on centralised funding because it has no capacity to generate income from private use. On drinking water supplies and trihalomethanes, THMs, issues, from where do the organic loadings that react with chlorine come into the water supply?

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

Steven Matthews: They are potentially cancerous.

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

Steven Matthews: If we start to address the drying out of some of those peaty soils that have been excessively drained, we could reduce the organic loadings going into our water supplies and have a very positive effect in respect of THMs.

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

Steven Matthews: Okay. That is the general overall health of our ecology and our human health. I know I am concentrating on the end user when we drink that water. It is, however, important to acknowledge that and look at it holistically.

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

Steven Matthews: That is great, Chair. I was just going to ask one more question. Is the reporting for the Commission a fairly standardised form of reporting that would be carried out in most European countries? Does the Commission set that out for the EPA?

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

Steven Matthews: Yes, the nitrates. I am referring back to the report. Appendix 1 - Copy of Article 12 of the Commission Implementing Decision begins, "The competent authorities shall submit ..." and continues from there. The EPA does not decide how it is going to test water. Water testing and reporting is a fairly standardised procedure.

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

Steven Matthews: I thank Dr. Cotter very much. I encourage her to please keep carrying out the work she is doing. It is critically important that we have good scientific evidence to work out our policies and the actions we should take.

Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (13 Jul 2023)

Steven Matthews: Before I close, on behalf of my colleagues and everyone else in the House, I thank all of the staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas for the incredible work they do. I mean everyone, from the restaurant staff to the porters, from the ushers to IT staff, from facilities staff to those in the Bills Office and the secretariat. Without their work, we could not do our work, and it is important to...

Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (13 Jul 2023)

Steven Matthews: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I never underestimate or take for granted the absolute privilege it is to stand in our Oireachtas and propose changes to legislation. I want to thank my research team who worked on getting the Bill to this stage with me, namely, Darragh Mowlds, Kate Ruddock and Bríd McGrath. I would not have got this far without them. The Bill...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Defective Block Scheme Regulations and Review of IS 465: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Steven Matthews: I welcome everyone to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. There are two meetings today. We will split the session into 90 minutes each. We are meeting today to discuss the defective block scheme regulations and a review of IS 465. In the first session, we are joined from the expert group by Mr. Paul Forde, chair, Mr. Martin Lynch, general manager of the Pyrite...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Defective Block Scheme Regulations and Review of IS 465: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Steven Matthews: I thank Mr. Forde. I invite Mr. Owens to give his opening statement. I would appreciate it if he would keep his contribution as close to five minutes as possible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Defective Block Scheme Regulations and Review of IS 465: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Steven Matthews: I am afraid I must interrupt Mr. Owens as we are up to six minutes and I need to keep strictly to time. I call Ms Coulter from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, SCSI, and we can come back to the points we did not reach.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Defective Block Scheme Regulations and Review of IS 465: Discussion (13 Jul 2023)

Steven Matthews: I am sorry to interrupt.