Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Again, student accommodation has not been an overnight success. I wish it were. These projects have been sitting idle and waiting for funding for many years. We are purposely trying to drive up the amount of student accommodation in cities and areas close to universities and on campuses. We are trying to encourage and provide funding for education institutes to drive on-campus accommodation. The majority will be publicly funded through the education bodies. That is what we want to encourage.

They are managed to a high standard. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, and I have visited some of the new accommodation in UCD and Maynooth. It is built to a very high standard and there are many services on site. Many conditions are attached to them and the student accommodation is designed in a certain way to minimise the disruption which the Deputy claims happens regularly. It is purpose built. I have been in student accommodation all over the area for many reasons over many years. Trust me, it is much better developed in a co-ordinated way and designed for students in the first place and it fits in much better.

See this speech in context