Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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61. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress that has been made in working with higher education institutions to ensure that more accommodation is built on and off campus, as set down in the programme for Government, through the use of cost-rental and other models; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6916/23]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Year after year, students face a difficult task when seeking to secure accommodation. Competition is fierce at times and it can be extremely difficult to secure suitable places to live. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to increase the number of accommodation units for students across third level colleges and universities. Will the Minister provide an update on the number of units delivered to date?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter repeatedly and for keeping in touch with me in respect of it. I am working actively to address the difficulties faced by students in accessing affordable student accommodation.

In recognition of the real challenge, including rising construction costs and the impact of same on the affordability of accommodation, I received Government approval on 29 November last to, for the first time ever, invest taxpayer funds in helping to build student accommodation. As the Deputy will know, because we have discussed the matter before, a number of projects were stalled which had active planning permission in five universities, UCD, DCU, Maynooth, Limerick and Galway. Trinity has got planning permission recently, so that is six. In November I got the go-ahead in relation to three, namely, Maynooth, Galway and Limerick, to provide part State funding to get those projects moving again. I have had extremely intensive direct engagements over the last couple of weeks with the presidents of UCD and DCU, separately, and their teams to try to move those projects on. I hope to be in a position to update Government on that shortly. Trinity will be engaging with them now that they have planning permission.

I know the Deputy’s heart and mind lies in the regions and how we can bring student accommodation into them. We also, on 29 November, made the decision to allocate seed funding, if I can call it that, of €1 million to the technological university sector to begin to develop its own plans. With the exception of Waterford - I see Deputy Ó Cathasaigh is here - there has not been a technological university or institution of technology that has built student accommodation. That is not a criticism. That is the way the rules were at the time. We need them to be able to bring in expertise, probably externally, to get a view as to what is possible.

I expect to shortly be in a position to outline how that €1 million will be used in a structured way. It is most likely to be used to provide a central external resource of expertise that could help all technological universities because there are probably synergies between them. I am happy to keep the Deputy updated on that.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. We are all aware of cases where student accommodation fails to meet the quality standards in many areas. Many students have reported poor living conditions, inadequate heating and ventilation, mould and damp. We need to ensure we have modern suitable accommodation. We need to look to provide such accommodation in a structured manner.

I encourage the adaptive reuse model, which involves converting existing buildings into student accommodation. Croí Cónaithe is an important vehicle for that in rural and urban areas, but we should be utilising it in the rental market. I hope that, in time, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, will look at that option. Co-living spaces have become increasingly popular among students. That is an important step forward.

Will the Minister provide an update on any public private partnerships that can help drive the delivery of student accommodation by, as he mentioned, leveraging on expertise and resources in the public and private sectors to deliver at scale and get beyond the point where, year after year, students are in real competition when the CAO offers are made?

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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The Minister will not be surprised to see me coming in on this. He rightly referenced that Waterford has built on-campus student accommodation. There has been welcome Government interventions on student accommodation, particularly in the case of technological universities, which will be allowed to borrow in order to fund student accommodation for the first time. However, it means we are a little behind. The pipeline the Minister referenced consists wholly of universities that are in train. In the context of South East Technological University, and, I am sure, ATU and Technological University of the Shannon, we want to see increased numbers of students coming on campus. To allow that to happen, which we need to increase the amount of accommodation available. In my constituency, constructing purpose-built accommodation and expanding the footprint into the campus will be pivotal.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I agree fully with both Deputies. I assure Deputy Dillon that the structured approach makes sense. If there are synergies and we know there is a model that can work for the technological university and get things moving, let us not waste time coming up with a load of different models. You notice when you drive around the country, many new schools are beginning to look the same. That is because the Department of Education got it right and that saves time in the roll-out. Nothing is off the table in terms of the modality used. In Galway, for example, they will be long-term renting some; in Maynooth, they will be direct building. It will be whatever it takes to increase supply with affordability being a key ask and interest of ours.

On Deputy Ó Cathasaigh's point, I met all the chairs of the technological universities in Leinster House in the last month. The chair of the South East Technological University was there. I said to him - and I am sure he will not mind me sharing this – that I want him to keep me under pressure, to say they have all these student accommodation projects in technological universities ready to rock and ask why we have not funded it yet. We are not at that point yet. I have said clearly to others we need them coming up with plans and demanding the Government funds them. We will not be found wanting in helping to get them off the ground but we need the planning to be done first. The reason the universities are going first is not a preference for them, but that they have the planning. We need the plans in place and the €1 million is about trying to enable that.

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I know the Minister is deeply committed to delivering increased numbers of student accommodation. It is crucial we get careful planning and management to ensure such student accommodation is fit for purpose, meets the needs and is supported by ample public transport. Rental prices are at an all-time high and it is making it extremely difficult for students.

I encourage that the application that was submitted by ATU for the old military barracks in Castlebar be given careful consideration. It is a vacant barracks in the centre of Castlebar and would make an enormous contribution to the town centre. That money should be invested in such projects to entice people into the area and support ATU and its offerings.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that I will inquire into the position regarding the old military barracks site in Castlebar to see what the position is and establish if progress can be made. I will familiarise myself further with the matter. He mentioned it to me previously. I will get the view of ATU and the Department. I will be happy to revert to the Deputy on the matter.

The Government will continue to do everything we can to increase supply but we are also looking at different ways in terms of helping with affordability. Of course, the actual cost of rent is one way of helping with affordability. So, too, are increased student grants, reducing registration fees and increasing the student assistance fund. We will look at many different ways of how we can reduce the pressures of the cost of education on students and their families.