Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In my interactions with the students union in UCD last year, I do not think the need for regulation was raised with me. The Minister of State, Deputy English, informs me that he does not recall it being raised with him during his meetings with USI. If one in ten students currently lives in student digs, we want to increase that number. We want to reach that target of 4,000 by the end of 2019 because it is a much-needed source of accommodation. Traditionally, it is a cheaper source of accommodation than some of the types of accommodation being built at the moment - the purpose-built student accommodation. We are working on possible text for inclusion as an amendment to see if we can apply rent caps to purpose-built student accommodation similar to those that apply in the rental sector today but the informality of digs work for both sides in many cases. It is not just from a financial point of view; it is also from a social point of view. Anything that might undermine that supply of accommodation could be much more detrimental to students. Less student accommodation will cause further pressure in terms of prices for student accommodation and cause further problems for students who cannot source any accommodation so it will not solve the problem we have at the moment, which involves providing more student spaces. This is happening and we know this because of the numbers that are being delivered. A total of 5,500 have been delivered under the new strategy launched in 2016 and 4,800 are under construction. We need these as well as more digs.

See this speech in context