Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Broin, Ailbhe, the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, and all the team that contributed to this important legislation.

This is a motion for grafters. It is for workers. It is for those who saved for years, paying their mortgage, USC and property tax, and who got nothing in return. Some have been trying to give their child an opportunity that they did not get.

People from all around Kerry, from Listowel, Rathmore and Cahirciveen, have been in touch with my party's office because when the lockdown happened, they had no lobby group or union to advocate for them. They looked for help and none was forthcoming. There was no rebate, no refunds, only reality for those. They found that the system was stacked against them. The odds were against them. There was no tax incentives for them, but tax incentives for the builders who were allowed to loosen the construction standards and allow for co-living arrangements, and the colleges by and large were allowed to outsource accommodation.

This Bill is why we are in Leinster House and in the convention centre today. It is help for accommodation during academic term times. It is to help with one month's notice and to refund relevant payments. This is the type of legislation that we should all be associated with.

So much for "We are all in this together". These students, who cannot go abroad to college, could not enjoy the college experience and were left with nothing. This is the type of legislation that I want to be associated with and I urge the Government Deputies to support it also.

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