Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to speak on this Bill. I acknowledge the great work of parliamentary colleagues who have brought it forward. I acknowledge also the USI, which I understand to have played a significant role in shaping the Bill. I support the basic thrust of the Bill, namely, that students who are unable to access rental accommodation because of Covid restrictions should be able to access reimbursement of paid rent without undue burdens being placed upon them. There is a lot of talk about the barriers for students and the barriers for those who wish to progress to third level.

Students were treated unfairly by many landlords and property management agencies that refused to refund their deposits. This was a major issue of concern last summer.

We all accept that this exploitation has been be going on since last year. Almost one year ago to the day, on behalf of students in Laois-Offaly, I engaged with the then Minister of State with responsibility for higher education and former Deputy, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, to secure quicker refund levels for third level students who had paid for on-campus accommodation they could no longer use. Ms Mitchell O’Connor had stated publicly that the Government would wish to see pro ratarefunds issued to students in privately owned accommodation. As I said at the time, while the response from the then Minister of State was an acknowledgement of the problems that students were facing, it did not go far enough.

This Bill goes some way towards ensuring that the right to a refund is established. It has always been my view that consideration was going to have to be made in respect of introducing a statutory obligation directed at private or on-campus accommodation companies which refuse to engage with students. Students face average costs of between €700 and €790 per month for campus accommodation in Dublin, Cork and Maynooth according to the latest data we have from daft.ie. That is an enormous sum of money for students and their families to be down, especially when they have paid in advance. Action needs to be taken.

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