Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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184. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if and how she will address issues relating to student accommodation in the short to medium term; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44411/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Government fully appreciates the concerns regarding the availability of accommodation for students and the report, Student Accommodation: Demand & Supply, which I published recently sets out clearly that the demand for student accommodation outstrips supply in certain areas and will continue to do so in the coming years.

There are 13 useful recommendations in this report some of which include capital financing, tax considerations and planning issues, as well as support for the rent-a-room scheme. I have introduced two immediate actions to begin this work.

Firstly, the awarding of a grant of €30,000, which will be provided by the HEA to the Union of Students' (USI) in Ireland to progress short-term solutions for students in need of accommodation. This funding will allow USI to develop their homes.usi.ie website, to communicate more effectively to student and homeowners, and to carry out research into this important issue.

Secondly, the establishment of an inter-departmental steering group to oversee this work, the first meeting of which took place on 1 October 2015. This group will provide a coordinating mechanism to ensure that the higher education institutions have access to information on new potential funding and delivery models. A significant number of Action points have been identified for follow up arising from the first meeting.

Finally, the Government is committed to addressing the housing shortage through the Construction 2020 strategy. This will not resolve all of our problems immediately, but I am confident that the implementation of Construction 2020 will provide us with a sustainable housing stock in the medium to longer term.

The full report can be accessed at