Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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73. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the mechanisms he has explored to ensure students in both on-campus and off-campus accommodation will receive full refunds for unused accommodation; the institutes of higher education and accommodation providers that have agreed to give refunds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31711/20]

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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It will be no surprise to the Minister that my question relates to accommodation. I will focus on the issue of on-campus accommodation because it is unimaginable that students have been left wondering whether publicly funded institutions will give them refunds for accommodation they are prevented from using. Students secured accommodation based on assurances from the Government and institutes of higher education and, understandably, they believe they have been misled. Some colleges have indicated they will give refunds, which I welcome. I believe University College Cork, the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and the National University of Ireland Galway have stated they will, while others have indicated they will not. Will the Minister update us on which universities he has officially contacted in this regard and on what response he has received?

Since I submitted this question, we have been told we will move to level 5. What will level 5 mean for students and should they expect not to get refunds for accommodation fees? My understanding is that most students will now be prevented from using the accommodation they have paid for.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am conscious of the challenges faced by students regarding student accommodation this year due to both financial pressures and the blended learning format of the 2020-21 academic year, which Deputy Conway-Walsh rightly mentioned. Responding to these issues is a significant matter of concern for me and my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, and we are examining how accommodation providers can be encouraged to show greater flexibility to students during this challenging time.

The Deputy acknowledged that the university sector is engaging with these issues. Following the decision to minimise on-site teaching, five of the seven universities have confirmed that students who do not wish to proceed with their booking in university-owned student accommodation can cancel it without charge, while those who opt to leave their accommodation will receive refunds. I am awaiting confirmation of the policies of the remaining two, Trinity College and Dublin City University, DCU, but have made it very clear in meetings with the representative bodies of universities and institutes of technology, in the presence of student representatives, that the Government's position is that university-owned accommodation refunds should be provided. I am aware that DCU has adopted a flexible model whereby students can book and pay for accommodation for a number of days and nights rather than a full semester, which seems to be an intelligent way to do it. I also understand that at DCU, in cases where students paid a deposit but chose not to take up the accommodation, they will have the deposit refunded in full. I will continue to liaise with the sector through the Irish Universities Association to encourage the availability of fair solutions for students in university-owned student accommodation.

For students in the private rental market, I am urging providers to be flexible in finding solutions given the circumstances that students find themselves in. There are, however, no powers directly available to me under the current legal framework for private accommodation. Refund or cancellation policies in student accommodation should be set out in the licence agreement signed at the beginning of the academic year and, in the first instance, students should engage with their accommodation provider to try to reach an arrangement. I have asked my Department to continue to engage with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to monitor and report to me on developments and further actions that could be taken.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the fact that five of the seven universities have indicated they will provide refunds, although it is important that they are provided in a timely way. I urge the Minister to seek a commitment from Trinity College and DCU in that regard because it would go some way towards reassuring students. Third level students have suffered from a great deal of uncertainty in respect of their education, and while some of that is unavoidable, increasingly the students with whom I have engaged believe that much of it was not. They feel that the Department has overpromised and have noted that timetables were not issued until accommodation had been paid for. I have been advising students since July not to pay for accommodation upfront. One area in which we can provide certainty is that of accommodation and by acknowledging the financial stress it is causing.

Will the Minister commit that all colleges and associated accommodation providers will be instructed by the Department to provide full refunds at any student's request in respect of unused accommodation? We need to get the issue off the table once and for all, and the Minister needs to state that all campus accommodation will be refunded and when that will happen. The providers need to communicate with students in an accurate, honest and truthful way to let them know.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I want university-owned accommodation fees to be refunded where students cannot use the accommodation, or at least fair solutions to be found.

I have said that in crystal clear language to representative bodies on a number of occasions. I have also said it in the presence of Union of Students in Ireland, USI, representatives. It is my position and that of the Government and I expect it to happen swiftly. I welcome the progress that has been made and I accept there is more that needs to be done.

I will take the Deputy up on her offer to outline to the House what level 5 means for students and universities because that is important. Level 5 measures designate higher and further education as essential, insofar as on-site presence is required and such educational activities cannot be held remotely. This is not March in that we are not locking the doors of our universities as we did then. In overall terms, all further and higher education institutions should continue to deliver the vast majority of classes online. We all recognise that but reflecting the scale, diversity and variety of third level provision, higher and further education institutions are best to determine where on-site presence is required and my Department has been engaging with unions, student representatives and university leaders on this.

Teaching and research in laboratories, practical and skill-based tuition, workshops, including training of apprenticeships, engagements, including small groups of learners where learners might be vulnerable or require additional support, and scheduled access to libraries, which is very important for our students, are the sort of things that can continue on-site but the public health advice is that most should be done online.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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Is the Minister's advice to students who are on campus at the moment to stay on campus within the bubbles they are working in?

I want to put it on record that I am deeply concerned about the quality of the education experience that students are undergoing at the moment. I do not want us to run into a situation months down the line where we find there are huge dropout rates. That will have a significant mental and physical health impact on students. We need to take a grip of it now and acknowledge that there is a problem there. We know the problems there are with online learning as it is but we know from research we have done that the education experience students are having right now is deeply worrying. We need to face up to it, deal with it and support those students collectively in that.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy that, in particular when it comes to things like mental health and well-being, we need to be really aware of these things. We need to support them and invest more in them and that is what we are doing. I also hope she will agree with me that we need to learn from the mistakes other jurisdictions have made where large numbers of students returned to campus and we saw what happened in terms of outbreaks of the virus. We need to be very careful and put the health and safety of staff, students and communities first. I know that is what students are saying. They have been extraordinarily responsible and helpful, contrary to the stereotypes that we hear from time to time. The USI campaign has been very helpful and it has worked with the Chief Medical Officer. Students asked me for certainty, as did university lecturers and staff. We now have certainty in terms of what this semester looks like. It is not what we would like it to look like and I accept the Deputy's challenge. I put this up to the universities. We have put a lot of extra money into mental health. The Deputy would argue we should do more and I take that point but I want to make sure that our students can continue to access that even if it is remotely. Things like mental health and the student assistance fund are now much better resourced than they were but we need to make sure the student who is at home can still access that support and our colleges need to reach out in that regard.