Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister and his wife on the new addition to their family. My question relates to the National Student Accommodation Strategy and its status, given that the last report was in the third quarter of 2019. Why has this accommodation strategy died? If it is not dead, it has certainly been let wither on the vine. We had an action plan. Why has it been dropped? Looking at Waterford, the plan appears to be to take no action. The goal of the Government appears to be to have no additional student accommodation in the city beyond what was developed a number of years ago. The Department was instrumental in disassembling Waterford Institute of Technology's capability to deliver student accommodation, most notably by removing its borrowing capacity. Having done that, the Department has provided nothing in exchange by way of new accommodation for students in the south east, in our regional capital city.

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