Results 4,041-4,060 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: To expand on what Mr. Carr said, there is a future for those hubs and for smaller freight delivery probably by electrified haulage with smaller trucks and shorter journeys. We have battery-powered electric trains on the way that can do an 80 km round trip and battery-run smaller haulage can be certainly done as well. I wish to clarify something with Mr. O’Connell. I had a look at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: On the emissions of rail versus HGV, we must also take air pollutants into account. A lot of people die from air pollutants and particulate matter, etc. On rail freight for Rosslare, my vision is that we have Ballina connected to Athenry to Limerick Junction across the Waterford line, reopen the Barrow Bridge and connect into Rosslare. That western Atlantic-southern corridor is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Ports Development: Discussion (10 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: On policy, there is a narrative that the auction price cap was set at €150 per MWh. It should be noted that is a cap. Wind Energy Ireland has suggested that should be between €95 and €115. Many of the auctions in Europe have come in at too low a price because of uncertainty have failed. We need to be sensible about it. We are setting that correct strategy and what Mr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: Everybody is very welcome to the meeting where we reconvene our discussions on modern methods of construction. Today we are joined by the following expert witnesses: Mr. David Browne and Mr. Pat Kirwan, Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, RIAI; Mr. Tom Parlon, Mr. Sean Downey and Mr. Martin Searson, Construction Industry Federation, CIF; and Mr. Dominic Stevens and Ms Claire...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: I am sorry to interrupt Mr. Kirwan but we try to keep the opening statements to five minutes because it helps us to get through business. We can return to the remaining aspects of the opening statement. We want to cover the areas of skills, upskilling and adoption of MMC and then we can return to the opening statement.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: In order to be fair to everyone in terms of time, we can return to the summary issues. I want to thank all the witnesses for their opening statements, for being here and for giving up the time in their day to assist the committee with this. Last week, Coillte, which obviously grows a lot of the timber in this country, appeared before the committee, as did SOLAS, which does the training...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: Yes, the Deputy is out of time. We will move on to Deputy Ó Broin.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: The representatives of the CIF have one minute to respond to the Deputy's question about high-carbon materials.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: As quickly as you can, Mr. Parlon, because I have to stay on time. Go head.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: That is a good point. Mr. Browne answered my first question a moment ago. It is critically important that the carbon assessment is done at the planning and construction stage. People want to buy an A-rated home. That is the running life of the home while they are in it. People also want to know that the construction and methodology used also contribute to that. Aside from the climate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: I apologise for interrupting Mr. Downey. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, SCSI, did a report last year. It broke down the costs into 48% hard costs and 52% soft costs. Would there be an impact on the 48% hard costs with MMC?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: I will move onto scale now. What is suggested by that mandate is, if we are going to start ramping up to 40,000 homes per year, which is what is needed to produce through various methods, and if we were to set that target at 10,000, we probably do not have capacity within the MMC manufacturing base in the country at the moment. It is a chicken and egg situation. We would have to have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Modern Construction Methods: Discussion (Resumed) (9 May 2023)

Steven Matthews: It is not a magic solution for provision of thousands of homes; it is just another method of construction. We have to be realistic about the numbers. Is this a five- to ten-year timeframe to scale up to start hitting those targets? Where does Mr. Browne believe we should realistically pitch that figure at?