Results 7,881-7,900 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 (5 Oct 2021)

Steven Matthews: As the Deputy knows, and this issue was discussed this morning in our private session, the timetable for committees is chock-a-block. We managed to fit this meeting in because there was a cancellation in the schedule and it was agreed to do this on that basis. I am not prepared to take a risk in this regard. We also have the Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021, Private Members' Bills,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 (5 Oct 2021)

Steven Matthews: It is up to the committee members who wish to do so to turn up. Those of us who turned up went through this proposed legislation in detail. I call Senator Cummins.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 (5 Oct 2021)

Steven Matthews: I thank Senator Cummins. I call Deputy Cian O’Callaghan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 (5 Oct 2021)

Steven Matthews: I do not doubt that we need to get this proposed legislation right. However, having another session with other witnesses does not mean that we would necessarily get it any more right. The contributions we have had today have been substantial. Deputy Ó Broin suggested having a meeting on Friday. Another week would then be required for the pre-legislative scrutiny report to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 (5 Oct 2021)

Steven Matthews: It is not unprecedented that we have one PLS session. The Tailte Éireann Bill, for example, took one PLS session, as did others.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 (5 Oct 2021)

Steven Matthews: I am not making comparisons between the Bills, but it is not unprecedented for us to have one PLS session with the Department. We have done that before and we are likely to do it again. It is my intention from today's session, with the questions and answers and the help we got from the Department, that we proceed to compile the PLS report, which can be drafted and put before us as soon as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Planning and Development (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021 (5 Oct 2021)

Steven Matthews: Okay. That is grand. I have thanked all the Department officials, so we can let them go.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (30 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: 19. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the delay in processing passport applications, in particular first-time passports for children and new citizens; the steps his Department is taking to alleviate this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46209/21]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Protection (30 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: 65. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to cases of Afghan citizens who had been long-term residents of Ireland and have a large support network here but who do not hold Irish EU visas and who are currently stuck in Kabul; if advice will be provided to anyone in this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46210/21]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: State Bodies (30 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: 184. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the position regarding the time limit for serving as a member of the board of An Bord Pleanála; the approximate date of expected vacancies that will likely be filled before February 2025; and the way board members are selected. [47270/21]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Pesticide Use (29 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: 76. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the use of chemical pesticide weed killers to clear rail tracks; if he will investigate this policy and consider the use of alternative methods of weed removal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47108/21]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Local Authorities (29 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: 118. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the way in which a local authority can apply for funding to employ a full-time biodiversity officer; the number of officers that he proposes to be employed nationally; and the local authorities that currently employ a biodiversity officer, in tabular form. [47107/21]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authorities (28 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: 93. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he is satisfied with the current allocation of resources and staffing levels in planning departments at a local authority level; if his attention has been drawn to the extra demands that will be put on these departments with regard to the requirements under the large scale residential development Bill, the Maritime Area...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authorities (28 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: I want to ask the Minister of State about the current level of resources and staffing at local authority level in planning services, especially in light of the extra pressures that will be put on them by the planning and development (amendment) (LSRD) Bill, the Maritime Area Planning Bill and the new draft development plan guidelines, which call for extra monitoring and measuring on...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authorities (28 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: I put the question in the context of the huge amount of work that is done at local authority level, of which the Minister of State will be aware. Our planning services are very professional and offer very professional services to everybody who engages with them, whether that is through the development plan process or other areas. Development plans are getting more and more complex and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authorities (28 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: It is reassuring to hear that the e-planning system is progressing so well. That will bring many efficiencies to the entire planning system and cut down on those masses of paperwork that are involved in a planning application. That is, therefore, a positive move. I agree with the Minister of State about the range of services that are required now in planning. I talk about things like...

Housing for All: Statements (28 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: I thank the Minister, his advisers and the departmental officials for producing this Housing for All strategy. I acknowledge the collaborative approach we had in preparing this document. It is a long-term plan, incorporating many green objectives that started off as discussions with the Minister and his advisers. We improved those ideas and now we see them in a strategy and in legislation....

Housing for All: Statements (28 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: They are really good at heckling, but even their heckling does not stand up to scrutiny. They do not need to deal in detail and facts. They deal in sound bites, populism-----

Housing for All: Statements (28 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: -----headlines and criticism. None of that has ever produced a house. None of them has ever produced a house. The target we need to produce is large but doable. It also creates another problem in that it leads to significant carbon emissions if these are all to be new builds, which I do not believe they will be. Concrete production is an enormous carbon emitter. If we take the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (28 Sep 2021)

Steven Matthews: The programme for Government commits to a Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment to prioritise insurance reform. The survival of an outdoor business in Bray is threatened by high insurance costs as are many community groups, sporting groups and businesses. I look forward to meeting the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, later to discuss what we can do for Squirrel's Scramble...