Professor Barbara Dooley:

Deputy Conway-Walsh has raised some very important questions that are somewhat embedded in one another. The core question is to what extent the accommodation crisis and its financial impact are playing into mental health issues in our students. We have not measured this but I am sure that if we did we would see that those who are struggling with accommodation, and particularly with commuting, do not benefit from the education experience to the same extent as those who live closer and can get to the campus more easily or those who can afford to live on campus or close by. Deputy Conway-Walsh is right that it is a crisis nationally at present. We need the Government to begin to tackle the issue of accommodation where possible for those who are commuting. It is one of the big drivers in considering how we invest in our campuses to provide accommodation for those who must travel distances.

When students must commute issues are raised not only regarding mental health but also social development. Students who live close to the campus and get there easily and those who live on campus are able to engage in everything offered by our higher education institutions, whether publicly funded or otherwise. This is with regard to the development of an individual. I firmly believe that the academic classroom is only one point of the college experience. The broader college experience involves developing as a person so that when the students leave they have gained many resources other than an academic qualification. The qualification in itself may be just a starting point for many of our students who may change career multiple times. It is about the development they get when on campus. The issue is how we balance these. Certainly from speaking to the registrars in the IUA group most universities are trying to see what we can put in place for those students who commute. What are the issues we can alleviate or mitigate for someone who commutes for quite a length of time? Can we open the campuses earlier to support them? Do we have places to relax? Perhaps there should be better access to showering facilities. These do not alleviate the crisis but perhaps they will help us to mitigate in the short term.