Dr. Colm O'Reardon:

The Cathaoirleach is absolutely correct.

It is a very important piece, and I acknowledge the point just made. I was in the region recently and noted this is a very important issue. We are coming at it from a number of different directions. There is a process under way to try to find or support projects that can be developed out because there is planning in place or because there is a viable project that, with State support, could be given the go-ahead. A number of the projects mentioned are in that bracket, including those in Maynooth and DCU. There is a wave of projects being progressed based on the call-out from about a year ago to identify projects that could be moved forward quickly.

There is a second piece of work, which is to try to develop a longer term policy on this. This involves determining what the demand is, where it is and the kind of accommodation specifications we should be providing or supporting. That is a sort of second wave.

The third piece, which has been really significant, has been support in terms of student digs and trying to get more supply into that area. A number of tax measures have come online in that space. The Department ran an advertising campaign over the summer to try to encourage people to provide accommodation for students, and this seems to have had an impact. I have not been able to carry out a formal valuation of it but it seems to have had a significant impact. Frankly, the more accommodation that can be delivered, the better, particularly at this point.