Results 3,741-3,760 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: 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...

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

Steven Matthews: The review of Part B and the fire certification should be completed and reported on to feed into that process.

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

Steven Matthews: That is helpful. I want to ask a question on carbon accounting within the Department in terms of housing provision. Has any accounting been done? We know our figure of 33,000, on average, but if we were to apply a figure of how we much we can bring back in with regard to refurbishing and reusing buildings, has any carbon accounting been done on that? My colleague, Deputy Leddin, probably...

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

Steven Matthews: I have one or two more questions. Have there been reports on the progress of the town centre pathfinder programme, which is probably only a year or so old? I know 26 towns were selected for town centre pathfinder projects.

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

Steven Matthews: Of the 26, 24 have town centre first officers.

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

Steven Matthews: Are they full-time like the vacant homes officers?

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

Steven Matthews: It is separate but is it a full-time position?

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

Steven Matthews: Perhaps I should be approaching the Department of Rural and Community Development for a report on progress rather than the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

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

Steven Matthews: My final question is on the ready to build scheme. It is not something I was particularly aware of. Is the scheme more aimed at sites local authorities own outside towns and villages? Is there a density level set for it? How is the separate development of sites managed? Is it plots or is it a site? How does the ready to build scheme work and what has the response been like? It sounds...

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

Steven Matthews: It is about land that local authority owns, perhaps a couple of acres, within a settlement boundary such as one would see in a development plan. Is a certain density set for those areas?

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

Steven Matthews: It could be a very valuable initiative. As a former county councillor, I know there is a constant argument that it is impossible to get permission for a one-off house. Despite this, we see that 25% of planning applications or more are for one-off houses. People want to live in rural Ireland and have a right to do so. However, if you can bring them into these serviced sites in the towns,...

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

Steven Matthews: Is there a requirement on local authorities to identify sites for the ready to build scheme?