Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)

In his opening statement, the Minister said the lack of affordable accommodation is a big barrier for students attending tertiary education, and that is obviously correct. He is part of the Government that signed off on a plan yesterday that is going to make that crisis for students a lot worse. Arguably, students are the group that is hit hardest. Students who are in rental accommodation will effectively not have any rental protection whatsoever. They will not be covered by 2% caps and they will not be covered by the consumer price index caps because the vast majority of students in private rented accommodation change tenancies very regularly every year. Therefore, every time they go back to rent again, their rent will be reset to the market rate. There is no rent protection for them. When asked about it, the Minister said he will meet with the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, to thrash out how this will work, and he said he will make sure it works. I do not understand. The Minister is there at Cabinet. Student accommodation is one of the biggest issues in higher education. How has he not already thought this through? Are students an afterthought to this Government? Is the Minister saying the rules will not apply as they were announced yesterday? Is he saying there will be some extra protection for students in private rented accommodation? There are more students in private rented accommodation than in purpose-built student accommodation. Why has he signed off on a decision that is going to deepen the accommodation crisis for students?