Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is just as well I was ready. I commend the collaboration that has happened. There have been huge collaborative efforts across the third level sector. We all witnessed that over the year and a half of the pandemic. I hope it will continue. I have no reason to think it will not because that is the way we can develop and bring forward the third level sector throughout the country and, mind you, right across the 32 counties.

I also acknowledge the extra funding, especially that allocated for student support. I hope that money will go directly to the students and families who most need it. That is probably the next challenge for us.

The Minister set out the position regarding the safe return of students. This is also a really good opportunity for him to address some of the anxieties students are experiencing. One of those is in terms of accommodation and the new legislation. The Minister will be aware of the legislation brought in on 9 July. There is a month set aside for that legislation to come into force. However, I am extremely concerned that I am getting reports from families and parents indicating that accommodation providers are putting pressure on them to pay large sums of money upfront. Those providers are trying to get ahead of the legislation in that regard. There seems to be a loophole in this regard. Can the Minister confirm the date on which the law to limit a landlord's ability to ask for multiple months' rent in advance will come into effect?

In view of the fact that the legislation allows for students to opt out and pay multiple months upfront if they wish to do so, what safeguards are in place to ensure that landlords will not simply favour those students and thereby make the legislation worthless? I am concerned. I accept that this matter does not come directly under the Minister's remit, but I know he will share my concerns.

A Kerry woman put it to me yesterday that it is like telling the fox not to eat the chickens when it is let into the henhouse. It seems that students are trapped in that at the moment. Will the Minister speak to that, in terms of speaking to the families, students and accommodation providers?