Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Some of our guests have appeared at the committee previously, so I welcome them back. I was listening to the meeting in my office upstairs earlier. Several of our guests spoke about the opportunities for students coming from DEIS schools at secondary level. I taught in the secondary sector for the best part of 15 years, 11 or 12 of which were in a DEIS school. Professor Hegarty mentioned the idea of expanding quotas for programmes of higher demand. How can we expand into DEIS schools and give those students further opportunities?

To follow on from the remarks of previous speakers in respect of funding, this might not be a popular question but is there much to be said for expanding the existing SUSI offering and strengthening resources targeted at those students, particularly those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds? A level of funding could be maintained, though perhaps not the existing level, and funding could be prioritised for those who need it most.

I have no doubt that student accommodation was discussed earlier in the meeting. In my city of Cork, there is considerable demand for it. We are always hearing stories about student accommodation, whether on local radio or from students on social media platforms or whatever it might be. There is a significant amount going on in the context of the provision of accommodation for students and how difficult it is to get it. There are issues relating to putting down deposits and losing deposits and the whole thing. There is no panacea or silver bullet that would cure our woes overnight. What are the views of our guests in respect of providing better access to funding or whatever the case may be for higher level institutions to address the student accommodation crisis?