Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the witnesses for their points and contributions. A special welcome for Professor Campbell, whom I met recently and who is based in my area, the south east.

I agree entirely with the points on the borrowing framework and flexibility. One size certainly does not fit all. We also definitely need to change the planning system so you cannot do what was outlined in terms of the changing of use. There is an awful lot of abuse of the system.

We have mentioned so many examples of exploitation. I raised this point last week with the students' union leaders. We have all outlined the emergency, and our guests have outlined it in very stark terms. We have to acknowledge that we are in the middle of an emergency in terms of student accommodation. That emergency is basically down to decades of failure to invest in dedicated student accommodation and in a house-building programme. From the 1930s to the 1950s, a period when the country was very poor, we were able to accommodate both students and our population in general. There is no reason that this cannot be done now.

One of the student leaders last week outlined how the international student body is being used as a cash cow due to underinvestment in the university sector. He said it is used by people as a way to supplement their income. I quoted some figures I got last week in terms of supply and demand. It is basic mathematics. There are 40,400 international students and 128,000 with visas who are here to study English. That is not typical of the EU. It is almost twice the EU average. There are many reasons for that, including the lack of funding. We have seen an increase in recent years of over 30% in the international cohort, whereas the domestic student cohort has gone up by just 5%. There is obviously a disparity. There are people who are exploiting it. Deputy McGettigan outlined the outrageous situation of 18 students in a two-bed house. We also mentioned previously that one in 20 international students claim they were asked for sex for rent. That is quite shocking.

The planning has to be sorted out and the borrowing framework. In terms of basic mathematics and logic, is it a sustainable model? The Government's accommodation strategy for 2030 is to increase the cohort of international students by a further 10%. As someone who used to teach maths to infants, I am just wondering whether it is a sustainable model if we cannot accommodate students. Do the witnesses think it is sustainable to say we need to have a greater international cohort? We are inviting people to come here to be exploited into homelessness. I do not think that is logical. Would Dr. Lillis be of the opinion that we need a more sustainable model? We are not saying the international students are not valued, but they are not to be exploited.