Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)

I thank our witnesses for their presentations.

It is such a different landscape since I was in college from 1987 to 1990. It was easy then to come by accommodation even though it was not of great standard. I refer to the cost of it now. We had broken windows and it was a competition in the morning to see who would be able to hold out the longest without getting out of bed to turn off the alarm because it was so cold. It is completely different now. It was nothing compared to what it is now.

The issues are the cost, quality and quantity of student accommodation. I wish to focus on Mr. O'Mahony’s points on how exploitative it is for foreign students and domestic students. We mentioned the case of 18 students in a two-bed unit, as well as sex for sale. One in 20 international students are approached. I see a very greedy, privatised, exploitative model which exists in Ireland at the moment. I wonder are the unions strongly calling out the Government on this. There is a focus on international students. There was an article in The Irish Times this week, quoting Eurostat and KPMG. They were celebrating. They said there is a surge of 33% over the past four years in the number of international students, compared with a 5% increase in domestic students. They were celebrating this. They said it is one of the main drivers of economic growth.

The ratio of international versus domestic students in Ireland is almost two times the EU average. Our witnesses have outlined how exploitative it is. There are 40,400 international students and an estimated 128,000 are studying English-language courses as well. It is a privatised model. There are many people making a lot of money on it. There are many people getting exploited. The Government has a target for 2030. I am not sure if the unions are aware of this but it wants to increase the cohort of international students by a further 10%. This is reckless. It is absolutely ridiculous. It is exploitative and causing division. Are unions questioning the wisdom of this approach? It is really the elephant in the room. Those with a privatised model want to bring in more and more students and I can see the benefit. Obviously, they are making a lot of money. Many students are getting exploited. It is obviously causing huge competition. It is not quantum physics, it is pretty basic supply and demand. It is purely down to Government policy that it has not provided the accommodation and that is the core of the problem. Is it wise to bring in a further 10% of students if the existing cohort is not getting accommodated? As our witnesses mentioned, there is a case of 18 students to a two-bedroom unit.

Are the unions challenging the Government on this approach and the wisdom of bringing in more students when they cannot cater for existing domestic and international students? It is a reckless policy by the Government. Our committee should be questioning that to say it is ridiculous to be asking to bring in 10% more, which obviously comes from a private investor point of view. I also realise some of the international students are being charged fees ranging from €15,000 or €20,000 to €30,000. From an investors’ point of view, this is fantastic. From a Government point of view, it thinks it is fantastic. In the context of student accommodation, however, it is reckless and ridiculous. Are the witnesses in agreement? Have they challenged the Government on this aspect?