Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their positive endorsement of the Bill. Certainly from what I have heard in the House today and in the Dáil earlier this week, there is universal support for it. I thank everyone for their contributions.

Several points have been raised by Senators. Senator Boyhan expressed his support for the Bill, and he and others raised the matter of addressing the issue of supply. This is something to which the Government is absolutely committed to doing through Housing For All. I welcome the comments from Senators Cummins and Fitzpatrick and all Senators on the specifics of the Bill.

I thank all of the Senators for their contributions. From what I have heard it is clear they agree that requiring students or their parents to pay for student-specific accommodation during the summer months is not acceptable to the House. Deputies in Dáil Éireann share this view. Both Houses of the Oireachtas have made it very clear that it is wholly objectionable for students and all renters to be required to pay in advance rent payments that exceed the lawful limit of one month's rent. A campaign by the USI in 2021 was influential in having the Residential Tenancies Act amended for all renters to restrict advance rent payments to no more than one month's rent and to place the same restriction on the amount of any deposit.

Provision was also made in 2021 to allow students to pay a greater advance rent payment if they wished and their landlord agreed. This provision was intended to help students but it is being used to their disadvantage by some private SSA providers to obtain large advance rent payments. The Bill will stamp out the practice. Under the Bill, an advance rent payment of more than one month's rent is only payable to a public or private education provider where it forms part of a combined rent payment in respect of both rent and tuition fees.

It is regrettable that the Bill is required at all. The outcry when some private student-specific accommodation providers moved to a minimum 51-week letting was loud and clear. An Taoiseach is very clear, and has been very clear from the outset in his former role as Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, as is his successor in the role of Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, as am I, and as is the entire Government, that minimum tenancies or licences of 51 weeks for student-specific accommodation are unacceptable. Cost implications aside, such lengthy arrangements are clearly unsuitable for the vast majority of students.

I express my sincere thanks to the members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage for waiving formal pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. Given the time-critical nature of its provisions, there simply was not enough time to proceed with formal pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill during the session prior to its publication. Department officials attended the committee to provide a briefing on the Bill, which I hope Senators found helpful.

I also express my thanks to the House for facilitating swift passage of the Bill. The Government is sending a clear signal we remain steadfast in our goal to introduce protections for tenants, in this case students, which are warranted and can stand up to legal and policy scrutiny. I am aware of the difficulties faced by many students in accessing affordable and suitable accommodation to facilitate access to higher education. We all share a common goal of providing quality, affordable accommodation for students.

Housing for All commits to improve the supply and affordability of rental accommodation and the security of tenure for renters, including students. Last week, Dáil Éireann debated a Bill proposed by Deputies Farrell and Ó Broin regarding digs accommodation. The Government very much values digs accommodation as an integral and distinct housing solution for students and others. Income from digs is very important to those who open up their homes to share with lodgers. The Government agrees that everybody, including lodgers, should have a sense of security and protection in their home. I look forward to debates on the Bill.

The Government acknowledges that the cost of accommodation for those unable to live at home is the largest cost faced by students. The Government is developing policy responses to stimulate the supply of additional accommodation. This includes activation of projects with planning permission in the immediate term and the development of programmes for delivery of new accommodation through a standardised design process. Additionally, we will focus on vacancy and refurbishment projects and systematic responses to supporting measures to provide sustainable transport and access links to higher education institutions. This issue was also raised in the Dáil earlier this week. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy O'Donovan, is committed to developing a new student accommodation strategy, which will be published this year.

As I have outlined, the Government considers that students should not be sought or required to pay for accommodation beyond what is needed for the academic year, unless individual students request a longer tenancy. We must avoid any cost increase that acts as a barrier to higher education. To counter the move to 51-week tenancies and the large upfront accommodation payments being sought by SSA providers, the Department and I worked closely with An Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, and his Department to reduce the barriers to accessing third-level education. If enacted, the Bill will ensure SSA tenancies or licences are aligned with the traditional academic calendar of September to May, up to a maximum of 41 weeks. This does not, however, preclude students from seeking longer tenancies or licences.

The Bill will also strengthen the protections for students with regard to advance rent payments to ensure they are not sought or required to make payments of more than what is currently legislated for to secure a tenancy or licence in SSA. As I have said, following the enactment of the Bill, the only exception in which payments of more than one month's rent in advance will be permitted is where a student pays both rent and tuition fees to a single relevant provider.

In addition, the Bill amends section 58 of the Residential Tenancies Act to empower the termination of an SSA tenancy or licence by a student by means of a 28-day notice period between 1 May and 1 October in any year, whether or not there has been failure by the landlord or licensor to comply with any obligations of the tenancy or licence.

The provisions of the Bill will not affect any existing tenancy or licence. However, I do wish to add my voice to those calling for the provisions of the Bill to be given effect in respect of any existing tenancy or licence. Student-specific accommodation providers have got this wrong and can put this right for the students who are their customers. The customer is always right and the customers are calling loudly and clearly. We really cannot reiterate that enough today.

I thank Senators again for their contributions and I commend the Residential Tenancies (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2024 to the House and I look forward to progressing through the remaining Stages of the Bill today. I reiterate that I find it regrettable that the Bill is necessary at all. That said, the Government has no hesitation in protecting students and their families. The Government recognises that some families have more than one student to fund through third-level education at the same time. Every member of a family deserves the same chance to a third-level education and the Government is here to help families to manage their way through. Every person in the country deserves the opportunity to study at third level. The Government will continue to break down these barriers. Our well-educated workforce is a credit to the sacrifices made by families the length and breadth of the country. The Bill seeks to ensure SSA providers cannot cause families to make sacrifices that are unnecessary and deeply unfair.