Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge National Bike Week. I am from a county where we have two people who have won the green jersey in the Tour de France, Seán Kelly and, recently, Sam Bennett. We have been quite successful. I acknowledge the positive role cycling plays. I cycle quite a lot. I did a cycle around the peninsula of Dingle a couple of weeks ago and was not the better for it for a couple of days because I had not done it in a good while, but it is a great activity. It brings peace of mind. We have wonderful infrastructure now to support cyclists and I encourage people to use it.

I ask the Acting Leader that we have a debate with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science at some point before the summer recess about student accommodation. I am getting call after call from students who are struggling to get accommodation next year in Cork, in the Acting Leader's city, and in Limerick. These are second year and third year students who are at their wits' end at this stage trying to secure some sort of accommodation for college. A number of them now are looking at the possibility of travelling from Tipperary, from Clonmel and Cahir, for the foreseeable future until they get some sort of accommodation. This is even before first-year students get their results in August and start looking for accommodation on the back of that. It is imperative the Minister comes in here and outlines his vision for accommodating these students. Most people are fortunate enough to experience student life, and part of that is living on a campus or in a city or area where the college is, taking in, obviously, the academic side of college but also the enjoyment of being independent for the first time in one's life. That is an important experience to have as well as the academic side. That cannot be experienced by living an hour and a half away at home in Tipperary. It is therefore important the Minister would come in and speak on that subject.This issue will get bigger in the coming months as more people seek accommodation for September.