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

On behalf of the Government I thank Deputies Ó Broin and Funchion for tabling the Private Members' Bill to propose extending the protections of the Residential Tenancies Act which currently applies to dwellings under certain tenancies, to also apply to dwellings provided under licence agreement for student accommodation.

It is helpful to have this worthwhile discussion tonight. While we might not agree on everything, the focus the Deputies bring to the area is important. Deputy Darragh O'Brien of Fianna Fáil also had a Bill in this space. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, has been working with students and others in this space over the last couple of months, along with her Department, in trying to see how we can intervene to help. None of us wants students to be facing the situations such as they are.

Members spoke tonight about sending the students a message of solidarity, and that we are aligned with them. That is all very fine and it is important that we say this in the debate, but we also must ensure that we bring forward legislation that we believe will work. While the intention of the Bill is right, the Government is not fully convinced that it can work in its current form to achieve the result that we all want. It is not a case of us knocking the Bill back because it is not ours; it is about how we can work through it to make legislation achievable to give us the end result we need, and which will not present a constitutional challenge.

While the Government cannot at this juncture endorse this specific legislation as it is premature until such time as the legal considerations and implications are more thoroughly evaluated, we can readily acknowledge and welcome the broad spirit and objective of the Bill as a genuine attempt to improve the situation for students at a time of under-supply in the residential rental sector. I see this Bill and Fianna Fáil's Bill as genuine attempts to do this.

It is in the interest of Government to ensure student accommodation is affordable and not subject to excessive increases. The existing Government financial support for students is finite in terms of taxpayers' money for educational grants and supports, and all the other aspects of provision of third level education. This funding should not be exhausted by overinflated and unreasonable accommodation costs. Equally, parents’ or students’ own resources are hard earned and should not be swallowed up either. Students should not have to face entering the workforce with a massive debt to repay just to cover their accommodation costs. We need affordable rents across the State and not just for students. This has been the focus of our work over the past couple of years. Unreasonable accommodation costs have the potential to prohibit individual students from pursuing studies in their preferred field because their choice of course might not be on offer close to where they live. Location comes into play and for some, an educational course in Dublin is becoming less attainable for financial reasons, predominantly because of high accommodation costs. This does not just apply to Dublin; it could also be in certain parts of Cork and other areas.

We need to provide certainty to students whose finances are tight and finite, and help limit their financial burdens. The Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O’Connor, highlighted earlier that the Government published its national student accommodation strategy to increase the supply of student accommodation and increase the take-up of digs accommodation. The Government has set a target to see an extra 7,000 bed spaces built by the end of 2019 and a total of 21,000 additional beds by 2024. We are currently on track to exceed these targets. The targets were set by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, working with the Department of Education and Skills, around the strategy some years ago, which was a specific action of the Action Plan for Housing. We recognised the importance of intervening to provide more student accommodation and to make it more affordable. Supply is the key issue. If we can introduce more supply into the market it will help to provide students with the ideal accommodation that is specific to their needs, it will help us to tackle the price of it and it will free up some of the other accommodation that students use - due to no other available choices - which is better designed for families.

There are different reasons for us wanting to intervene, so the Department is prepared to do this, working with the Department of Education and Skills. Since our strategy has been in place we have worked with that Department. I mentioned some figures earlier and supply has increased. I appreciate that Deputy Ó Broin acknowledged that in a radio interview this morning. He was right to say that it has improved but it is still not enough, as we always say in these cases, to really have a step change in the supply. The trends, however, are right. If we can build on this and add in the affordability element, we will be in a much better place to deal with the situation. The figures have improved in the context of what has been built over the last couple of years with nearly 3,000 new units into the system. Some 8,000 units are going through the construction phase currently, and about 5,000 have planning permission but have not yet started construction. I have just misplaced the actual figures but I will get the figures for the Deputies. While there is movement in this area it does not guarantee that it is at the right price and this aspect should be brought into focus. I acknowledge this and we are willing to work with Deputies on this issue.

A greater supply of student accommodation to meet demand has the potential to ease overall pressures on the rental market, including moderating rent increases, on the basis of increased competition and choice. The Department does not believe that Sinn Féin’s Private Members' Bill will achieve the outcome of having all student accommodation subject to ongoing regulation. I believe this is the intention of the Bill but it is not in the right order for that. I believe that this is the right outcome to seek, but this Bill will not deliver it.

The Sinn Féin Bill proposes to apply the protections afforded to tenancies under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2016 to students living in student-specific accommodation under licence agreements. When one compares a tenancy agreement to a licence agreement they are very different. I am aware that the Deputies have acknowledged this but they are very different. We need more scrutiny in this space to make sure we have it right. We have been working on some of this legislation also and have scrutinised some of the data. We had a greater focus when we looked at this Bill and we have asked for advice from the Attorney General. We analysed it to see how best we could bring a solution forward that combines all the ideas, which are good ideas.

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