Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that five of the seven universities have indicated they will provide refunds, although it is important that they are provided in a timely way. I urge the Minister to seek a commitment from Trinity College and DCU in that regard because it would go some way towards reassuring students. Third level students have suffered from a great deal of uncertainty in respect of their education, and while some of that is unavoidable, increasingly the students with whom I have engaged believe that much of it was not. They feel that the Department has overpromised and have noted that timetables were not issued until accommodation had been paid for. I have been advising students since July not to pay for accommodation upfront. One area in which we can provide certainty is that of accommodation and by acknowledging the financial stress it is causing.

Will the Minister commit that all colleges and associated accommodation providers will be instructed by the Department to provide full refunds at any student's request in respect of unused accommodation? We need to get the issue off the table once and for all, and the Minister needs to state that all campus accommodation will be refunded and when that will happen. The providers need to communicate with students in an accurate, honest and truthful way to let them know.

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