Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is like a Carlow-Kilkenny fest here this evening. I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for proposing this question and providing me an opportunity to update the House on the plans of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, to respond to the issues she has raised.

The Minister, Minister of State and their officials are actively addressing the availability of student accommodation, given the challenges in the wider rental market that have just been described by Deputy Murnane O'Connor.

Through Housing for All, the Government has approved the development of long-term and short-term policies and the provision of funding to increase the supply of purpose-built student accommodation. A dedicated student accommodation unit has been established to develop and implement this policy alongside the Higher Education Authority, HEA. The Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, and their officials are working closely with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and officials in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on the range of measures, including standards for student accommodation. Extensive collaboration and discussions on student accommodation are also ongoing with the wider higher education sector and other key stakeholders.

The immediate priority is to activate projects with planning permission. To date, the Government is supporting 1,071 new beds in the University of Limerick, Dublin City University, Maynooth University and the University of Galway. Department officials are also examining potential additional developments at UCD, Trinity, the University of Galway and UCC under this short-term measure. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will bring an update on this initiative to the Government by the end of quarter 2 this year.

The Government has also approved funding of €1 million to support the technological universities to assess their accommodation needs. The funding being provided will provide consultancy support to undertake a cohesive and regionally focused feasibility study, as suggested by the Deputy, for each technological university. This study will inform a long-term student accommodation policy and it is intended to bring a methodology on this policy development to the Government before the summer recess.

Department officials met with the technological university sector on 23 February this year to progress the objectives of the feasibility study and to establish the data and engagement needs from the TUs involved in this process. The terms of reference for a TU feasibility study have been finalised between the Department and the HEA, and the appointment of the consultant will be completed in quarter 2 of this year. The study will commence immediately thereafter, with phase 1 of the work focused on establishing a national and regional data picture on supply and demand projections for student accommodation across all publicly funded higher education providers and their environs.

A series of further engagements with the TU sector will be led by the consultants to inform this study. The role of the institutions in collating the data, presenting the specific needs of the sector and its students, and assessing options is imperative to the success of this study and to forging a path for the provision of student accommodation.

The South East Technological University has conducted a feasibility study and submitted it to the Department for consideration. SETU is currently developing a plan for the delivery of approximately 700 beds on each of the campuses in Waterford and Carlow, that is, approximately 1,400 beds in total. SETU is also commencing the process of responding to the requirements of the public spending code in relation to the development of a preliminary business case. The Department, the HEA, and its consultants are committed to working with SETU to progress proposals in line with the TU study.

The short-term student accommodation policy is progressing while the long-term response is developed. The Ministers and their officials are receptive to examining all solutions to assist in solving the student accommodation problem and are ready to work with any or all of the five technological universities to support them to assess student accommodation needs and, subject to the agreement of a borrowing framework, to borrow to build student accommodation.

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