Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is a myth in this country, namely, that there is free access to education and that anyone can go to third level education, get a degree and even, apparently, get a well-paid job. All of that, unfortunately, is simply a myth. The issue much of the time is that universities rely on financing from students, whether international or EU, to fund their activities because they are not adequately funded by the State. If students do make it to university, no student should be seen as a cash cow. However, there are many financial barriers to third level education. Without even going into the detail of such aspects as the student contribution that students must pay, there is the simple basic fact that rents are simply out of reach for most ordinary students. That is especially the case in Galway city, where I am from, where we have the second highest rents in the State.

What I really like about this Bill is that it is specific about students' needs. It looks at those challenges faced by students, and specifically those students in purpose-built student accommodation. The strength of this Bill is that it has come from the students themselves, from their experiences and from their union. I remember very clearly that last September students were told to act like everything was normal and to put the deposit down on their student accommodation. In that same week, however, they were then told that all the university lectures would be online. The resulting situation was one where many students had already put down their deposits, and they did not see those deposits again. The students' union in Galway city dealt with 30 different refusals of a return of deposits in respect of one student accommodation provider because it was simply left up to the landlord.

Even this morning, I spoke to one student who has been waiting for seven months to get her deposit back. She has basically given up. This Bill, however, would legislate for that type of situation. It would also mean that students could give 28 days' notice in respect of purpose-built student accommodation, and that is important because we all know life does not always work out the way we planned. Some of this student accommodation costs approximately €7,000 a year and therefore this is an important issue. I am glad everyone will be supporting this Bill and it is important it is enacted.

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