Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Student accommodation is key. What we need to do here is change the mindset. Colleges need to see the provision of student accommodation as a core part of their work. That is not the Government lecturing them. It is the Government saying we will work with them on it. If they come forward with the plans, we will try and get some of the funding. Let us work in partnership to get that student accommodation moving.

Of course, students all have different scenarios. Some students are part-time. Some students are holding down a full-time job and going to work. Some students can commute. Students who live where I live in Greystones might be commuting to UCD or Trinity and going home in the evening. For students living in rural County Longford, which was mentioned earlier, it may not be a possibility and they may have to move out. There are different scenarios. We need to have a range of options in place to recognise the different scenarios that different students encounter. A key part of that has to be college-owned purpose-built affordable student accommodation and that is now what we are doing.

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