Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There are a couple of elements to this issue. There is what can be done right now, immediately, for September. The factual answer to that is that hundreds more college and student accommodation beds will be open this September compared with last September. Another 674 bed spaces are coming on board through NUI Galway as well later in the college year. We must also be conscious of the rent-a-room scheme that is available. Last year, there was a bit of a perfect storm, if I may use that phrase, and understandably so with the prevalence of Covid-19 being so high. Many people who might previously have been happy to rent a room to a student, or anybody else, understandably did not want to take other people into their homes. There is obviously a situation where it is possible to rent out a room in one’s home and to earn an income of up to €14,000 tax-free. Several of the universities and colleges are working to promote that scheme in their localities. Technological University, TU, Dublin has actually created a register for people to express an interest in renting rooms. What we need to do, and what I am determined to do, is to come up with a model that unblocks the market failure in respect of larger-scale projects. That will require a public subvention, but in return for that subvention it will also be necessary to have an agreement and an understanding regarding an affordable rent.

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