Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The reliance on private sector purpose-built student accommodation has failed to deliver any affordable student accommodation. Looking at Mayo, for instance, the problem there is that we are concerned that the lack of accommodation will constrain the possibilities and the opportunities for Atlantic Technological University. There were only 24 properties to rent last week in Mayo, and we find that students are competing with families, which should not be the case. We should have purpose-built on-campus accommodation for students. This cannot be separated from the underfunding of higher education. Even the on-campus accommodation was turned into a source of revenue for colleges to replace the public funding removed under austerity. It is not the fault of the individual institutions; these decisions were made at a Government level. On-campus accommodation is charged for at near the market value because the various institutions need to cover costs. They therefore try to attract wealthier, more lucrative students to be able to bring in more revenue.

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