Results 5,701-5,720 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: But it is the councillors who make the decision on that, based on the report from the chief executive. We spoke about the offshore renewable development that is going to happen. A lot of the time we are worried about a lack of data and information on the marine environment, marine species and a lot of the habitats out there. Is there an opportunity there? All of these developments must...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: That question strays outside what this addresses, but I do believe there is an opportunity there. Rather than just getting environmental impact assessment reports back from developers there is also the environmental data that come back in. We could have all of the data and not just in a report. There is a benefit that would accrue to the State over ten, 20 or 30 years of offshore renewable...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: I thank the witnesses. I am over time on my slot and I will move now to Deputy O'Callaghan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: I note Ms Graham's interpretation of sustainability is something that has been stretched. There is the Brundtland description of it. An Irish politician describes sustainable development as development which must be sustained. I believe that is the case, although I never heard it said. A well-known Irish politician was credited with that interpretation many years ago.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: It would be great to have that before September to have oversight of the planning regulations and exemption as a committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: I will return to the points Senator Cummins made earlier. It is important to express the confidence we have in delivering 5 GW of offshore energy and likely 2 GW to 3 GW of solar capacity plus the 4 GW to 5 GW of onshore energy. We introduced one of the most complex and biggest pieces of planning legislation that went through this committee last year in terms of the Maritime Area Planning...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: On the question of strategic environmental assessment, SEA, then, each county carries out its own SEA with its development plan process. Has consideration been given that we could do it on a regional basis or sub-regional basis with maybe two or three local authorities, especially as we are aligning county development plans now as well? An SEA could be done to free up that resource. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: There was discussion about county development plans possibly being extended, with suggestions that a ten-year timeframe might be more suitable. I cannot remember whether we discussed it with the departmental witnesses or with somebody else. Where one is trying to perform an SEA on a ten-year plan, we will see deteriorations in environment and we will not see action on climate emissions....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: However, if one is assessing how the environment is to be impacted or how it may deteriorate for external or climactic reasons, then the assessment might be dated after five years of a ten-year plan. Will there be monitoring of the accuracy of the assessment of the SEA?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: Is there a comparison of the reviews of counties' SEAs as to which have done it fairly well and which have not? I have in mind the reports we get from the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, on how local government is performing. Do we have something similar for SEAs for development plans?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: Is the environmental impact assessment prepared by the applicant as part of the application?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: A point that is often raised with me is that it is the applicant who is employing someone to do an EIA on behalf of the development for which he or she is applying. There is a question around whether the applicant is objective in respect of the findings, recommendations, mitigations or whatever it might be arising out of the assessment. In some European countries, I understand, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: It is a question that comes up time and again, especially where permission is given that people feel should not have been given. It is pointed out that the EIAR was done by the applicant. I am not questioning that process but some people do.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: As I recall, the Netherlands is an example of a jurisdiction in which it is done in a different manner. The planning Bill we will be dealing with tomorrow refers to remedial EIARs. Is it set out clearly in the directives what an EIAR is in the context, for instance, of substitute consent applications?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: The committee carried out pre-legislative scrutiny on the substitute consent provisions, we had the witnesses in to discuss it and we did research on it. However, I do not know what has to be contained in the remedial EIAR. One of the concerns I have is how one assesses a site where there might have been unauthorised development for many a decade. What would the baseline condition be if an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Review and Consolidation of Planning Legislation: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: I thank Ms Graham. I have received notification that the vote of confidence is happening in the Dáil. I do not want to miss that. I thank the witnesses for their attendance. We look forward to paper No. 6, which deals with judicial reviews, in September. As I said at the outset, we will be available to work with the witnesses on the legislation that is going to unfold from that.

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (7 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: I am a tenor.

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (7 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: I hope the Minister will get a chance to correct some of the statements made during the previous contribution. It is always disappointing to come in here and hear the type of attacks that go on against our environmental non-governmental organisations especially An Taisce. It has been commented on at EU level. It is unfair.

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (7 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: I did not interrupt Deputy McGrath. I listened to what he said. It is entertaining a lot of the time but it is factually incorrect. I reiterate my support for An Taisce and the fine work it does throughout the country. Much of the environmental protection we have in the country comes from EU directives. I do not think we would have introduced it ourselves. We should acknowledge the...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (7 Jul 2022)

Steven Matthews: I will let Deputy Leddin take the first slot and I will take the second.