Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is about teasing it out and trying to understand. I was previously Sinn Féin spokesperson on public expenditure and reform. I have never seen a Department that does as many announcements as the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I welcome announcements if they mean there will be progress for students and things will be better for them. When that is the case, I am totally on board. When it is announcements that do not seem to be making much of a difference in students' lives, however, it is a different matter. If this announcement will mean progress for students, all the better and more power to the Minister.

As regards technological universities, will this allow for TUs or is it simply getting in data to see what they could build? What is the difference from the rent-a-room scheme? Does it relate to other universities being able to build? Does it relate specifically to the standardised design, which is welcome?

The reality is that announcements give people hope. At present, students are deciding which colleges to select on their CAO form based on whether they can afford to go to a college away from home. That comes down specifically to the issue of housing. We have seen the increase in the number of deferrals as a result of the housing crisis. I am concerned at the high number of announcements and their impact going forward. This Department makes a lot of announcements. Many of them are re-announcements. If there are announcements that help people, I will back them 100% and am happy to support them.

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