Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. Before talking about the general housing question I want to talk about a number of specific issues or challenges we face. First, I want to talk about student accommodation. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, has signed an order that will allow the technological universities, TUs, to borrow. That is significant because they can borrow, in particular, for the creation of student housing. The problem is that we still do not have the borrowing framework fully in place and this means the TUs, and the Minister of State will be familiar with the Technological University of the Shannon in Limerick, will have the capacity to borrow to provide student accommodation but the framework is not in place. As a matter of urgency, I ask the Minister of State to apply pressure to the Minister, Deputy Harris, to get that borrowing framework in place. The more student accommodation we can provide the better, particularly for the Government scheme that will help with the building of student accommodation. That will be significant and would also take students out of the general housing sector.

Second, I am concerned about the provision of modular housing. I have raised this with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. Part of it has to do with the supply that is coming in at European level because there is quite a lot of competition in this regard. I am not yet convinced, particularly with housing displaced persons from Ukraine and asylum seekers, that some of the plans are being treated with sufficient levels of urgency. I say this from the point of view of people who have offered to supply land and look at bringing modular housing into Ireland. There still needs to be a more co-ordinated approach with regard to the roll-out of modular housing, both for refugee accommodation and as a permanent housing solution.

I sit on the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media and I am glad that the plan on the registration of short-term lets was paused so that we could get this right. While we are correct in trying to tackle those who are trying to get around the planning laws by converting long-term lets into short-term lets and placing them on Airbnb, there is going to be a knock-on impact on tourism in rural areas. We all want to get those who are flouting the planning laws but it is critical that the unintended consequences of legislation like that, which could be damaging to rural tourism, are addressed. I was particularly concerned with one matter which I raised with officials from the Departments of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. They admitted that the 12,000 figure which would come about by regulating this sector was calculated on the back of an envelope; that is the phrase that was used.