James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

That is very much the plan and what will be contained in the new strategy when we put all the bits of the jigsaw together and launch it. That will then guide everybody from local authorities to people in construction to the different higher education institutions to progress.

The actions in the last plan have progressed. That is why the €100 million in the short-term activation fund is there. That is why I was able to turn the sod at UCD recently and why we were able to bring on stream the new beds in Maynooth. There are others within that programme that we expect to come good through that scheme in the new future, because it is important that we maximise the availability of accommodation. We have other measures and supports such as the rent tax credit. One of the reasons I increased maintenance grants for non-adjacent students in this year's budget was to reflect the reality that additional accommodation costs and indeed transport costs for those living a bit further way in a non-adjacent setting can be challenging.

See this speech in context