Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that. I know from Galway that we are actively adding to the crisis in the rental sector with the student population we have. Those students are in desperate accommodation and desperate situations. There has been no proactive programme in that regard. It has been obvious to everybody for the past ten years that we were going to be in crisis. However, I welcome what has been said.

My final point is on IMERC. I have listened to everything that has been said here today. Over two years we have listened. The debacle relating to IMERC does not really inspire confidence. Two third level institutions and the Naval Service set up IMERC. Looking at the document it refers to new governance arrangements emerging. It sets out all this flashy documentation and so on. My time is limited. I look at that and then I look at the review of Ireland's Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster dated May 2016. It is an indictment. I just have to put it on the record because I have taken the time to look at it and I have raised it previously. It is not my area, but it jumps out. We have to get an international panel of reviewers to look at this. They distinguish the university and CIT from the institution that was IMERC. Words fail me. The team identified a very significant weakness in the structure and operation of the institutional IMERC's governance and controls, and the absence of robust procurement, financial management and public relations. I will not quote the whole thing. The witnesses will accept it is a damning indictment of the new governance structures emerging. A structure was set up and it is allowed.