Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)

I want to concentrate on a couple of issues. The first is third level student accommodation. At the moment, it is reckoned that we are short 25,000 to 30,000 beds. This means students are forced to compete with workers and families in the private sector. As a result, they are paying extremely high rents. The rents in some student accommodation are becoming very high. The Higher Education Authority, HEA, projects that the gap could grow to 68,000 by 2035. That is an alarming figure, so we need to see increased investment in student accommodation. We also need to see an inequity addressed regarding the technological universities. Currently, universities can borrow, usually from the European Investment Bank, to build on-campus residences, but the technological universities cannot. The Technological Universities Act 2018 foresaw a borrowing mechanism but this has still not been put in place. In 2021, the Government said that it would implement that but there is still no mechanism in place. Perhaps this could be addressed so we could see student accommodation being built.

UCD has a considerable amount of student accommodation but it is quite expensive. It is the most expensive in the country. Recently, it was announced that the second phase of the village would progress, which is welcome. Taxpayers' money amounting to €67.7 million is being invested in that. However, I am hugely concerned about the cost of this accommodation. It is being built on university land, so the land is not costing money. It is reckoned that the cost is approaching €250,000 per bedroom. That is extraordinary and needs to be addressed, because this is taxpayers' money. Will it mean that the cost will be passed on to the students so that rents will be higher? While I welcome the investment of taxpayers' money by the Government in this, it cannot just be spent like that, where it is way over what it should be.

The other issue I want raise is collective bargaining. It is seen as a fundamental right in nearly every country of Europe. It is recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, it is still not considered a right in Ireland. While people have a right to join a union, there is no compulsion on employers to recognise or engage with that union. The reason I am raising it with this Department is that Government contracts to companies that will not engage with a union should not be granted to them. We have the example of BT, which has the contract for the emergency call answering services.It refuses to engage with its workers in a collective bargaining situation and has actually actively targeted those in the workforce and engaged in union busting. I really feel that government contracts should not be given to any company which will not engage with a union. We need to see legislation introduced that will compel all employers to engage with unions. It exists in the North and many other European countries. We need to see it implemented here.