Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the opportunity to raise this issue this evening. I raise it not just in the context of being a Deputy whose constituency contains the Belfield campus but also because it is of national structural and infrastructural importance. Of course, University College Dublin, UCD, is the largest third level institution in the State with a student population of over 25,000. While the news that came out earlier in the week that the college authorities have decided they are no longer able to push ahead with 1,200 additional on-campus accommodation spots is extremely disappointing, sadly it is not greatly surprising given that the reason cited for the cancellation or postponement of the project is rising material and labour costs and the difficulty in accessing both those things.

While this is a disappointment and a challenge, I feel there is an opportunity here because the president of the university has indicated it is seeking Government support to get this project back up and running. In other fields where major national infrastructure projects are threatened due to rising costs or lack of labour, the Minister of Public Expenditure and Reform has said the State will intervene and will work with developers and contractors to address those needs. That is a fair assessment and this case comes under that situation.

It is regrettable that the university has stated it needs to ensure that the rents to be charged on campus will cover the costs. We want rents on campus to be charged in a fair and equitable manner, reflecting that the people living in this accommodation are full-time students. These are younger people who may have a part-time job but do not have the means to pay excessive market-based rates. I know those are not necessarily words people are used to hearing coming from my mouth but we are talking about third level education, involving the training and education of the future engineers and architects who will build the next phase of housing, the doctors and nurses who will staff our health service and even possibly the next generation of Deputies. Who knows what will come out of UCD in the coming years? They need to be able to be educated in a manner where their accommodation needs are not distracting excessively from their studies, which is something that is happening throughout the country at the moment. It has given rise to protests by student unions up and down the country within institutions and on a national level.

We have another exciting opportunity that needs to be taken forward. This was a plan for just 1,200 accommodation units. Given the footprint of the UCD Belfield campus, we all know it has the opportunity to construct large levels of student accommodation. The space is there, the services are there and the transport infrastructure surrounding it is there. There is absolutely no reason we cannot inform UCD that the assistance will be provided on two conditions: that the Government can have a direct say on the rents being charged to students; and that UCD ups its level of ambition to a realistic level that will service not just the needs of UCD but also the needs of the entire State. It can alleviate a great deal of the pressure on the general rental market in Dublin, particularly in the south Dublin area that surrounds the campus.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Richmond for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to set out for the House the position with regard to UCD's decision. We are very aware of the difficulties faced by students trying to secure accommodation. It is an issue that we are actively pursuing and resolution is a high priority for the Department as a whole.

In September 2021, the Government launched Housing for All, led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. It set out a series of over 200 actions which will be delivered to address the housing crisis, backed by a transformative budget of €20 billion. Actions 11.5 and 11.6 activate existing planning permissions and set out my Department's responsibilities.

These are to bring forward a range of potential options for State support to assist activation of new, additional, purpose-built student accommodation units and to develop policy and methodology for potential short-term State supports for proposals for the construction of purpose-built student accommodation by higher education institutions to provide additionality for targeted cohorts where planning permission has already been secured. This includes the examination of relevant EU rules together with a borrowing framework and financing options for technological universities.

The cost of construction and the cost of finance are obstacles hindering the HEIs from delivering on-campus accommodation at affordable rents for students. These have also influenced the decision by UCD to postpone the progression of the project at present without significant funding support intervention. My Department is working closely with the HEIs to examine the design specifications and financial modelling for each individual project on a case-by-case basis. Department officials have met with UCD and the Irish Universities Association, IUA, to discuss the projects for UCD's student accommodation. This engagement is ongoing and options are being considered to activate this project.

In October, we updated the Cabinet committee on housing and received support on initial plans for policy development for the provision of student accommodation. We are actively progressing a new policy that bridges the challenges gap between the viability of delivering purpose-built student accommodation and subsequent rental affordability for students. This will include for the first time the State assisting with the cost of building student accommodation beds and unlocking projects which have been postponed in return for the affordable rents for targeted students. Detailed work is currently being advanced with a section dedicated to student accommodation having been established within the Department.

We will also be bringing a memo to Government in late November setting out the short-term activation proposals and the long-term strategic response of the State to the provision of additional affordable student accommodation.

In conclusion, we are finalising a memo to Government at the end of the month for approval on the assessed proposals to facilitate a number of short-term activation options set out earlier. UCD is obviously part of that conversation, as are the University of Limerick, UL, Dublin City University, DCU, NUI Maynooth and others. We also have to be honest that building will take time and we have to examine different options too. We are examining how we can come up with quicker solutions to address the immediate need. We are open to discussion with UCD and any other college that wants to build accommodation. This will be essential if we are to relieve the pressure on the overall housing market and to assist students with the help they need. I would like to thank the Deputy again for raising this matter.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the full reply that was given. I would also appreciate the opportunity to speak with the Minister, Deputy Harris, about this. I strongly welcome the consultation that is ongoing between the Department and the various third level institutions. It is important to recognise the national efforts to address this issue in terms of short-term activation measures. I see UCD being prominent this. There is also the ability to increase the number of people renting rooms. We also see other third level institutions pushing ahead with the construction of additional beds. There are 250 in Trinity College Dublin, 255 in University College Cork and 670 in the Leas-Cheann Comhairle’s own constituency in University College Galway.

I mentioned the two opportunities, but I am seeking to conclude my contribution tonight with two asks. I seek urgency from the Department in dealing with this issue overall and in dealing with this issue as it directly affects the State's largest third level institution. That is important to every factor of our social and economic development. We need to move beyond conversations with the third level institutions to practical, immediate actions that will see large-scale investment in on-campus accommodation that will match the level of investment and development of so many other on-campus sporting and educational facilities that have been extremely welcome over the last decade.

The other ask is straight to UCD. UCD needs to have the level of ambition that beholds the largest university in the State. I say that not just as a local Deputy for the area but as a proud graduate of UCD who thinks that the university should be leading by example, should not be letting other third level institutions lead and, most importantly, should do its duty to its students, staff and the people who live in the surrounding areas.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his remarks and reassure him that this is a high priority issue for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, so much so, as I alluded to in my opening remarks, that we now have a section within the Department that is dedicated to working with our HEIs to advance the provision of the much-needed student accommodation. That will be backed up by money. As I said previously, a number of initial projects are being discussed with a range of higher education institutions, including UCD. They all have to be looked at differently because they are not all the same. Different institutions are bringing forward different proposals, some of which are on-campus and some of which are off-campus. Commercial considerations and decisions have to be taken around that.

In relation to our technological universities, it is important to say that we are significantly advancing the commitment to follow through on the decision taken by Government to allow our technological universities to borrow in order to build on-campus, purpose-built student accommodation.

As the Deputy knows, the likes of UCD and the other universities can borrow, and that does not go onto the State’s balance sheet. Yet, for the former institutes of technology, which have now transitioned into the technological universities, that is an issue which has to be changed. In other words, any debt they accrue by providing purpose-built student accommodation will not go onto the State’s balance sheet in terms of the general State debt. To reassure the Deputy, it is a high priority for our Department, for UCD, as the Deputy articulated, as well as for every higher and third level education institution.

We made significant changes to the rent a room scheme in terms of the people who can avail of it. They will not, for example, lose some social welfare or other entitlements if they enter the rent a room scheme. They can earn up to €14,000 per annum tax free. It is a huge assistance and benefit to people who are seeking accommodation but also to the incomes of the people who are providing the accommodation. I would encourage more people to engage in it.