Professor Vincent Cunnane:

Flexibility is what we are looking at. The 53 projects we put in included working with the private sector, working with purpose-built student accommodation and local councils, working on refurbishment and a variety of activities. Some of those are suitable for smaller towns and some for larger towns. It is a variety. Ultimately, we will be looking for a wider borrowing capacity. We are now looking to constrain that to student accommodation because it is a very low-risk activity for the State to take on such accommodation. We are looking for the flexibility to do things in different ways around student accommodation.

The nominations agreement may be part of the new student accommodation. This is very interesting because it allows us to work with the private sector. A nominations agreement means we would have a long-term relationship but we would have to guarantee X percentage of beds for X number of years. That is a high-risk agenda. It is an option but, at the moment, a nominations agreement with the private sector puts all the risk onto the technological university. It would be very difficult for us to take on that risk. That €1.7 billion is underwritten by the State, as I said, for its establishment. The question is how we could take on this risk, even though we are a State asset, essentially. We would need some State guarantee in relation to the nominations agreement.

In terms of it actually working, we are working with two companies in Athlone and Limerick that have full planning permission for over 400 beds between them. They would like to do a nominations agreement with us but a nomination needs a contingent liability for which we need a borrowing capacity. Even if we get that, there is still the question of who carries the risk if things go wrong. That is where the State has to have a role as well.