Mr. Paul Lemass:

The 2015 analysis by the HEA was factored into the student accommodation strategy from 2017 to 2024. In that strategy, it projected a level of supply coming against it. In the early years, the supply was tracking well with demand – 8,000 beds added by 2019 against the 2017 numbers, and almost 10,000 by the end of 2020. Then Covid-19 hit and knocked us back. Frankly, we have struggled to recover. That is why the Government asked the Department to become involved directly in student accommodation. Heretofore, as I mentioned in my opening statement, we had relied on the universities themselves and on the private sector. From now, the Department is taking a more active role because of the fact that there was a setback through Covid-19, compounded by the cost-of-living crisis and the inflation that went with it. That is why the Department is involved now.