Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I read that UCD Students Union survey. It is a very good piece of work. One practical thing we did for students and their parents with the cost of accommodation, which the survey also focused on, was extending the rent tax-credit. A student renting this year was eligible for the €500 for 2022 and for 2023. That is per student in the accommodation. That will have made a real difference and I have met students and their parents for whom it has done so. Anything we do to help any renter with the cost of rent must also apply to those availing of student accommodation.

The Deputy is correct to say that not every student place in a college requires a student accommodation bed. In my part of the world, many can and do commute to Dublin, for example, but it varies on the college experience people desire and where they live. For many people it is not an option. Between now and the summer we will approve more student accommodation projects. I already mentioned one in Cork. We are also providing funding of €1 million to the technological universities to draw up their accommodation plans. It is the first time they have ever been given the opportunity to start developing student accommodation in the regions, which will make a big difference to Munster Technological University, MTU, and so on.

See this speech in context