James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

That is really good to see. It is exactly the kind of industry collaboration that is central, particularly in that area where there is great strength from some of those companies represented on that day.

There are a couple of points to address. With regard to student accommodation fees, a multipronged approach is being taken. That means we are doing a number of different things in parallel. There is the short-term activations approach, which takes sites. There was a call-out last year to the colleges to find out which colleges had lands ready to go and sites that could be progressed quickly through permission to design to get them up and running. Maynooth University was the first out of the traps. A total of 116 beds are coming on stream, ideally for the coming academic year. That is the plan. As I mentioned, DCU and UCD have aspirations towards that. In fact, they are more than aspirations. Proposals will be going to their governing authorities in the coming weeks, although they have autonomy to decide. That is the first wave of this approach.

A standardised design is in progress, which I hope to bring forward for Cabinet approval in the next few weeks. That will create a standard template, or set of templates, in the same way as school buildings are designed now. If one looks at new school buildings, they are variations on a theme. In the past, even with schools, every different board of management had a different architect and every site had its own approach. What has happened now is that there is standardisation. It is almost like an architectural bible or code. People can choose a template which matches their particular site. The goal is to reduce construction costs to achieve economies of scale. Procurement and design costs are all reduced. This will lead to more student accommodation coming into the wider system in a quicker and more cost-effective manner.

In respect of the local authorities and their role in this regard, it is envisaged that some of the higher education institutions and colleges will build their own accommodation, effectively. The private sector is also coming forward with proposals. If local authorities wish to embark on bidding programmes, that is something we can discuss with them. I am not sure that is envisaged at the moment, however. Local authorities will grant planning permission. They will be informed by the section 28 guidelines. As part of the architectural design standard I mentioned, a set of guidelines will be produced, which will become a reference point for local authorities. If an application comes in from the college, the private sector or someone else, they can cross-reference that application against the section 28 guidelines. Those guidelines will guide the revision.

I will address the cost of education briefly because I am watching the clock and I will be in trouble with the Chair. I might address it in more detail as we go on. There are many levers in this regard, from the cost of books, transport and accommodation to fees, registration fees and the cost of living. There are multiple things involved. It is not quite a one-size-fits-all situation. I have a number of ideas in this regard, which we might get into later in the session.