Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The rationale the Minister of State has given for the original provision, that is, that students might choose to pay more rent over a period of time to manage their financial affairs, is not the rationale that was given to us either by officials or the Minister when that legislation was passed. We were told the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science made a specific request to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to have this flexibility, not for students who choose to but for a very specific category of international students who purchase a package that includes accommodation. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan is right that there are problems with that but that was the rationale. No student would pay three, six or nine months in advance in order to manage their own financial affairs. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae is right. The reason this became such a contentious issue was that large numbers of landlords, including universities in some instances, refused to give refunds for accommodation until significant pressure was applied. I am genuinely concerned by the reply the Minister of State has been given by his officials because it seems to misunderstand the nature of the original loophole and its scope for exploitation. There is no value in us giving the Minister of State examples. If we have examples of this happening we need those students to take those cases to the Residential Tenancies Board. That is the right place for them. I was hoping for something a little more forthcoming from the Minister of State but given that his officials do not seem to understand the problem as clearly as we and students do, I have no choice but to press the amendment.

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