Results 4,981-5,000 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: Having access to that information is a major part of the battle that sometimes happens when one tries to protect something, even in land-based planning. For example, when one tries to deal with information around an architectural conservation area it tends to be a case of whether it is going to stop one from doing this or that. It tends to be light on information that provides reasons for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: When you look out to sea, for most people it is just the sea. It is just a flat surface going out to the horizon. It is the coastal features that they become much more aware of. They want to protect the dunes, the headlands, the migratory bird sites and that kind of thing. I am thinking about trying to inform the public and keep it generally informed that there is an MPA that extends 12...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: That is critical to the success of this and of all things. As a committee we looked at the river basin management plans and water quality in general in the country. I often ask myself why more people are not banging on the door and worried about these things. These are matters which we take for granted. The sea is an issue, in particular because of everything that washes off the land and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: Finally, Mr. Cronin mentioned that the designation and the management plans are similar, or are to go in tandem with each other, which is something we would have learned from designating Natura sites, where we did not apply management plans to them. Essentially, we just have that line on the map. Another issue is fragmentation and connectivity. Is the movement of species through the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: I thank Mr. Cronin. I can see from what he and his colleagues are telling us, and what I have read here, that a great amount of work has gone into this and all angles have been considered. I thank him for that work. Does Deputy Ó Broin wish to come back in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: I will go back to enforcement for a moment to clarify something. Deputy Ó Broin may wish to come back in on this because it is a point he raised. The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority will have responsibility for enforcement in consented or permitted area where development is going on. Where a marine protected area is within one of these development zones, will MARA have a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: For my benefit, will Dr. O'Higgins list some of those agencies? MARA will be one and a local authority might be another.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: The Deputy may go ahead. This is the kind of direction I wanted to go in with this question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: Is Deputy Ó Broin going to ask about an unregulated activity?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: Under the Maritime Area Planning Act, local authorities are responsible for the area to three miles out. I would imagine that 99% of the observations that may be made by members of the public will be from the land or close to the shore. If people phone a local authority to say they think something is going on with regard to the environment or planning, the local authority is probably best...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: I was about to wrap up the meeting but Deputy Gould arrived just in time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: We have just spent the past minutes some time discussing that subject and we covered it well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: It was raised by Deputy Ó Broin regarding non-compliance and pre-existing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: For Deputy Gould's benefit, as I am not sure if he was here, we said we would meet user groups next week and environmental groups the following week. We may seek a briefing session at which the committee can provide feedback. We would like to proceed then to compile our pre-legislative scrutiny report to allow the Bill to be put together. Is that okay with members?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Marine Protected Areas Bill 2023: Discussion (26 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: I appreciate that. I thank Mr. Cronin, Dr. Ó Cadhla, Dr. O’Higgins and Mr. O’Connor for their engagement in this three-hour session. It has been helpful and informative for members. I also thank them for the considerable work they put into getting this proposal to this stage. Members appreciate it and we will not delay in playing our part in enacting this legislation in...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (25 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: The Government recently announced the installation of solar panels on secondary and primary schools. The Government has made great strides in solar at utility scale and domestic scale, with feed-in tariffs, substantial grants and planning exemptions. It makes a lot of sense to expand this to our schools to help them with their energy bills and in our climate challenge. I understand it is...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Driver Test (25 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: 71. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to cases whereby driving test candidates have been refused tests due to NCT expirations on their vehicle, in spite of having one booked, and the known delays for this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3475/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: Good afternoon everybody and welcome to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Today we are reconvening the series of meetings we have been having on implementing Housing for All. We are joined by representatives from Longford County Council and Mayo County Council. They probably know already that we have met the four Dublin local authorities, some of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: I thank Mr. Mahon and invite Mr. Kelly to make an opening statement on behalf of Mayo County Council.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementing Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (24 Jan 2023)

Steven Matthews: I will move to questions from members. I note that we have Oireachtas Members present who are not members of the committee so I ask them to assist me in letting me know who will take the different slots; that would be helpful. I will move to the Fianna Fáil slot and Deputy Flaherty.