Results 1,421-1,440 of 9,814 for speaker:Steven Matthews

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Amendment No. 453 is in my name. I will withdraw it.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Amendments Nos. 454 and 455 are ruled out of order.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Amendment No. 457 is in the name of the Minister and is grouped with amendments Nos. 980, 982, 984, 985, 987 to 997, inclusive, and 1004. There is a total of 17 amendments in this group in various Deputy's names.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: I suggest that we take amendment No. 980 in the names of Deputies Cian O'Callaghan, Ó Broin and Ó Snodaigh now. If they think there is a logical grouping of any of those amendments, I ask them to cover them all.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Deputy Ó Snodaigh also has a question.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: I will make a suggestion to Deputy Ó Snodaigh. I realise this is Deputy O'Callaghan's amendment. Amendment No. 980 lists a number of people Deputies O'Callaghan, Ó Snodaigh and others think should be included in this. It would be helpful for us to have some sort of document referring to which terms cover an owner and occupier, as in all other legislation, as well as those not...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Is that okay with the Deputies? We will have that information before we get to amendment No. 980.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: All of us have an interest in protecting our heritage and, especially, our protected structures. Every time I see the Minister of State walking around the Chamber, he has some book or other on architectural heritage or protection tucked under his arm-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: -----so I know he has a keen interest in the matter. He has done some good work in this area. My amendments would improve the process and protect our structures further. In amendment No. 982 to section 276, I suggest that the record of protected structures be a separate document on a local authority website. If one wants to find a protected structure now, one needs to access the county...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Amendment No. 984 relates to section 279(2)(c) and putting public notices on a website. This section is on the procedure for making additions, deletions and amendments to the record of protected structures, and paragraph (c) reads: "cause notice of the proposed addition, deletion or amendment, including the particulars of the proposed addition, deletion or amendment, to be published in at...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: If it is helpful, section 283(1) includes that wording, so it is already in the Bill. To make sure it is consistent-----

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: We have not done all the amendments. We have done amendments Nos. 982 and 984 and I accept the response of the Minister of State. With regard to amendment No. 985, it is a little disappointing. The conservation officer is generally within planning services - that is my experience, anyway. I am trying to ensure that we have somebody who is suitably qualified.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: On the planning services, are they are required to liaise with the conservation officer before making a decision?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Yes but the current wording does not oblige them. It just says "it shall". Perhaps the Department could look at "in consultation with the conservation officer, it shall" or something like that?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Okay. Does the Minister of State wish to address amendments Nos. 993 and 996?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Yes, and we can go back to the others in the group then.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: I accept that we do want to leave some flexibility for the local authorities. The reason I propose "shall" is to oblige them to do it because anyone who has ever dealt with planning authorities knows that they are extremely busy and sometimes the protected structure stuff just falls down the list a little bit because of all of their other duties. What I was trying to do was to give them a...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: If somebody carries out works on a protected structure and takes out the old sash windows and boards them up with a bit of plywood, he or she could use section 281 (5) (b) as a defence and say that the work was "undertaken in good faith solely for the purpose of temporarily safeguarding the structure".

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: Amendment No. 990 seeks to put a timescale on this. If somebody has carried out temporary works to safeguard a building's structural integrity or some other aspect of it, where is the obligation to return, undo that work and make good the structure or building? If this is used as a defence for such work, how will the work be undone and the structure or building made good again?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Planning and Development Bill 2023: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Mar 2024)

Steven Matthews: I am worried there could be sliding degradation of a building as somebody carries out temporary works because of water ingress, vandalism or people getting into the building. Such a building could be going into dereliction before our eyes over ten, 15, 20 years or longer. Subsection 281(5) allows a person to carry out such works, notwithstanding their other obligations under the Act. My...