Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his good wishes and his important question. I will not repeat the points I made when replying to Deputy Conway-Walsh but they stand with regard to this question too. I hope and expect that Waterford Institute of Technology will become a technological university shortly. I take the point that the Deputy makes but I disagree strongly with his assertion that my Department and the Government have done nothing to assist. With the publication of Housing for All, we have changed that policy or, one could argue, we have reversed that policy. We have made it clear that we want institutes of technology and technological universities to be able to access the borrowing framework and cheap money using the State's infrastructure. As recently as last week, my officials, including the Secretary General of my Department, met with the representative bodies, including the Irish Universities Association, IUA, along with officials from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and my advisers. They made it clear to colleges that we want them to come forward with proposals. I will shortly meet with the Housing Finance Agency and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. I am encouraged by the pipeline of products that I see coming from institutes of technology, technological universities and the traditional universities. While I accept some of the criticism, it is accurate to say that there is a significant policy shift spearheaded by my Department since its creation, making sure that institutes of technology and technological universities can access the borrowing framework.

We have a National Student Accommodation Strategy. I can read some of the progress that has been made. Supply has increased. As I said to Deputy Conway-Walsh, that is not the entirety of my position because I believe that the strategy is in many ways out of date and has been overtaken by circumstance. It was too reliant on the private sector providing purpose-built student accommodation. I would much rather have college-owned, sector-owned accommodation. The rub is that if we allow institutes of technology and universities to access the borrowing framework, I want them to address the affordability issue too. I do not want to see what I have seen in some colleges and universities that have built fancy accommodation which is unaffordable for our students. When I meet student unions, they say it is no good telling them that there are an extra 500 or 600 beds because the price is extortionate. In return for access to the borrowing framework, we ask that accommodation be affordable for students.

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