Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for the important and timely question. When the question was submitted and we were preparing our answer it was in advance of the Finance Bill being published. The Bill will be published later this week but the Minster for Finance has indicated today, as have I, that parents who pay rent for their children will now be covered by the rent relief. Let us look at the various scenarios in which students might be renting. A student might rent privately, register with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, and pay their rent. They are covered just as any renter in the general population would be. There are students who avail of the rent-a-room scheme and the Minister for Finance has been clear they are covered. Students who live in on-campus accommodation often have a licence agreement rather than a tenancy agreement. They will be covered. The final category is a student who is renting privately but whose parents are paying the rent. The Finance Bill will now ensure, quite rightly, that parent can avail of the rent relief. This is an area I think we agree on. It is right and proper that that is done and I very much welcome the work of my colleague the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, on this.

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