Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Ó Broin and Conway-Walsh. I also welcome the initial response from the Minister. I live in Dublin West, as the Minister knows. It is a community which, like his in north County Dublin, has a substantial youth population and a diverse population. We have thousands of students who attend college and who travel the length and breadth of the State. Every year, when students get the word that they have got their places in college, it soon turns into a time of stress and worry if they have to live away from home. I have had three children in college. They were lucky enough to be able to live at home and not have the worry and stress of having to find money, including money for accommodation. I do not know how parents do it.

As described by previous speakers, students are paying thousands of euro upfront, along with other substantial costs that can put college out of reach for many working families. Many of those working families do not qualify for SUSI or for any grants or supports whatsoever. It is extremely difficult for them to send their children to college. This Bill would prevent providers of student accommodation from charging one month's rent in advance. This would be a significant help to students and their families. We must learn the lessons of the pandemic and address the concerns raised by the USI about students and their parents not being able to access refunds when they had to leave or could not take up student accommodation.

The people of this country were asked by the Government to adhere to strict guidelines and the provisions of the relevant legislation. They did that, and many thousands of students did not take up accommodation that had already been paid for. What did they get for that support for the Covid-19 regulations? They were denied rent refunds for unused accommodation by many landlords.

Let us support them now and agree that this Bill allows for prompt refunds in such instances. This Bill would also enable a student to end a tenancy in student-specific accommodation by serving the landlord with a 28-day notice of termination. This is a reasonable request and a reasonable Bill.

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