Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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87. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to ensure there will be sufficient student accommodation ahead of the next academic year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26589/23]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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On the same theme, what are the Minister’s plans for student accommodation in the coming year?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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My plan is to make sure we use some of the resources available to the country to pitch in to meet the cost of building it. I was clear when I took office that I did not think the student accommodation policy where it is either left to the market or to the universities’ volition whether to decide to build student accommodation was adequate to the scale of a challenge that society, students and their families face. That is why since last year to date, we have approved about €59 million of taxpayer funding towards student accommodation. It means we have been able to give the go-ahead to over 1,070 student accommodation beds that otherwise would not have happened. These were beds that had planning permission that had stalled due to inflation, market failure or whatever you want to call it. These are beds in DCU, the University of Limerick, UL, Maynooth and Galway. There are a number of other projects left. One is in the Deputy’s part of the world in UCC where there is planning permission for over 240 beds. There are some in UCD and some in Trinity. Trying to move those three on is my focus between now and the summer recess.

Alongside trying to invest more, I am also aware of the immediate issue. When you press go on a project now that does not mean that it will be ready for September. What we need to do now is make the rent-a-room scheme a more viable and sustainable part of the overall accommodation offering. The last figures available showed that over 9,000 people availed of the rent-a-room tax scheme. There is obviously a lot of interest in it. If it works it can work well. You could have a constituent with a spare room who would not mind a little bit of extra income and now, thanks to the decisions this Government is taking, they can take in someone, rent out the room, not pay tax on the income on that room up to €14,000 and keep any medical card and social welfare payments and not have it alter their student grant entitlements. It is making sure that people do not lose out on any access to State supports if they help. The Government will run a major public awareness campaign over the summer months to make homeowners aware of how they can avail of the rent-a-room scheme and to make students and others aware too.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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The €59 million investment is very welcome. I will refer to some statistics in a recent UCD student union survey. Approximately 14,500 campus beds are in place across the country. That accounts for about 6% of the total student population. There are about 250,000 students in this country. Not all would need on-campus accommodation and many do stay at home but the figure gives an idea of the task that lies ahead to meet the demand. Unfortunately there are pressures there, given the crisis in private rented accommodation across the board, compounded by the pressure on accommodation from migrants and refugees. There is a very difficult task ahead. Something like a two-tier student experience is emerging. People get to have the full experience on campus but then, as Deputy Alan Farrell just noted, many students have to travel long distances. It is reminiscent of what happened in the boom times when people were travelling into Dublin for work and so on. Will the Minister expand on any further initiatives he is taking?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I read that UCD Students Union survey. It is a very good piece of work. One practical thing we did for students and their parents with the cost of accommodation, which the survey also focused on, was extending the rent tax-credit. A student renting this year was eligible for the €500 for 2022 and for 2023. That is per student in the accommodation. That will have made a real difference and I have met students and their parents for whom it has done so. Anything we do to help any renter with the cost of rent must also apply to those availing of student accommodation.

The Deputy is correct to say that not every student place in a college requires a student accommodation bed. In my part of the world, many can and do commute to Dublin, for example, but it varies on the college experience people desire and where they live. For many people it is not an option. Between now and the summer we will approve more student accommodation projects. I already mentioned one in Cork. We are also providing funding of €1 million to the technological universities to draw up their accommodation plans. It is the first time they have ever been given the opportunity to start developing student accommodation in the regions, which will make a big difference to Munster Technological University, MTU, and so on.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome that. One fifth of the respondents in that survey said they had no written agreement or formal lease with their landlords or the place they have digs or a room-share arrangement. Are there any plans by the Minister or in any other Department to regulate digs-style accommodation? Is giving those people security something that is being examined? They are in a rather precarious position in the absence of any written agreement.

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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Deputy O’Sullivan mentioned the level of accommodation that accommodates approximately 6% of our students. Has the Minister a view on whether it should be a priority, not only to reduce costs, but to dramatically increase that figure specifically for the purposes of recognising that our population centres in Dublin in particular are not the only places in the country that are growing? In fact, the regions outside Dublin are growing faster. Therefore the universities and third level institutes up and down the country might need an ongoing specific budget for the very purpose of providing accommodation to students and therefore reducing the costs of third level education in future years.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Yes, I do. I have had many conversations with university presidents where I have pointed out that student accommodation needs to be a core part of their offering because it affects their ability to attract or retain students, students’ mental health and well-being and their overall education experience. I am not saying it is widespread, but there is an idea that “we are a university; we do education and you do housing”. No, student accommodation is a core part of the university experience and the students' well-being and is part of the universities’ contribution to the national effort to maximise housing supply. That message has landed well with universities. My message to them is that they should not tell me there is a student accommodation problem without coming forward with what the universities can do on their lands. We will not simply say that it is a great plan but will support them with money from the people of this country to help make those projects a reality.

Deputy O’Sullivan asked about regulation. It is something I am considering. I am engaging with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage but it is a careful balance. I do not want to overly regulate somebody’s spare room or put off someone renting out a room if it becomes overly burdensome but it is something I am looking at.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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We will change the order for the next questions and take Question No. 90, by agreement.