Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think this question is the most important of the oral parliamentary questions today. On top of everything Deputy Boyd Barrett said, my worry is that there are many accommodation centres, particularly in the mid-west, that also have Ukrainian refugees staying in them now. The capacity that they would have had in the previous academic year is now virtually gone. I am glad to hear the Minister will entertain the idea of institutions finding on-campus solutions. However, I do not think enough is being done in that regard. I am thinking of the University of Limerick, in particular, which is close to me. I am not suggesting for a moment that people should be sleeping on camp beds in lecture halls. That is not what we are talking about. However, the university has the highest number of faculty buildings available in the mid-west on its campus. Surely, there are buildings that could be partitioned, or buildings in respect of which a change of use application could be submitted to the local authority, with the buildings subsequently being fitted out in order to provide student accommodation.

The Minister needs to write to all third-level presidents and what can be done in an eight-week planning window.

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