Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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510. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the outstanding recommendations of the report completed by the Higher Education Authority in respect of student accommodation in September 2015 to be implemented by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26216/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Alleviating the housing crisis is a cross-Government priority and the available analysis indicates that the lack of suitable rental accommodation for students is driving up rents in the private rental sector, particularly in areas where demand for rental property is high. This is contributing to what we know is already a considerable strain on some students and their families to participate in higher education with knock-on effects on completion rates. The reality is that dealing comprehensively with this issue will only take place as part of a more general programme to address the major housing and homelessness issue.

Accordingly, my colleague Mr. Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, yesterday (19 July 2016) published "Rebuilding Ireland – an Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness", following Government approval of this comprehensive and ambitious Plan. The full plan can be accessed at: .

My Department worked closely with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government in developing this Plan, with a specific focus on student accommodation, and the following measures detailed in the Plan are directly relevant to this issue:

(i) The Department of Education and Skills in conjunction with a number of other key stakeholders will prepare and publish a national student accommodation strategy, which will set out a broad framework for delivery of an enhanced level of accommodation and which will inform local authority housing strategies and the land management process in general, in order to provide suitably located and affordable sites. This will be prepared with a view to developing a national policy on specific needs and mechanisms for the development of appropriate on-campus and off-campus student accommodation.

(ii) My Department will work with stakeholders to prioritise and progress viable projects to provide additional student accommodation in key urban areas. This will be done with a view to bringing on stream proposals capable of delivering an additional 7,000 student accommodation places by end 2019, on or off campus, in addition to projects already committed to.

(iii) Dedicated delivery structures, such as Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs) will be established in the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) sector to access Housing Finance Agency (HFA) funding, and complete any required policy, regulatory or legislative changes necessary. This will be done with a view to providing additional funding mechanisms for the HEI sector, in conjunction with the HFA.

(iv) The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government will help to fund a Student Housing Officer to work with the Union of Students in Ireland, local authorities, AHBs and housing providers, to identify and expand short-term capacity enhancing measures in the student accommodation sector. This will be done with a view to assisting students in finding appropriate accommodation.

(v) Funding mechanisms will be established for Institutes of Technology to support the development of their student accommodation capacity. This is to facilitate the Institute of Technology sector in developing their potential for on-campus student accommodation through addressing current borrowing capacity and funding constraints.

(vi) The Department of Housing Planning and Local Government in conjunction with the Department of Education and Skills will carry out an assessment of scope for provision of additional student accommodation on local authority or other publicly-owned lands with a view to maximising the potential for student accommodation provision on suitable sites as part of mixed developments.

(vii) The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government will enable student accommodation projects for 100 units or more to go straight to An Bord Pleanála, as well as maximise the opportunities for joint venture projects on local authority sites to proceed through the Part 8 process and prepare guidance on planning policies around student accommodation developments. This will be done to enhance certainty and reduce delivery timescales and costs associated with bringing student accommodation proposals forward.

I very much welcome the commitments contained in the plan and I look forward to working with colleagues on a cross-Departmental basis to ensure that the commitments contained in the Plan are implemented as soon as practicable.

In addition to this, I should point out that a number of our Higher Education Institutions have Student Accommodation projects ongoing, or in the pipeline, with a number of additional on-campus Student Accommodation bed-spaces coming online from September 2016. Maynooth University have 296 new on-campus bed spaces, and UCD have 350 new on-campus bed spaces, which came on stream for the commencement of the 2016/17 academic year. Six other Higher Education Institutions are currently engaged in, or going through the planning phases for student accommodation projects, namely National University of Ireland Galway, Trinity College Dublin, University of Limerick, Dublin City University, University College Cork and Dublin Institute of Technology.

The Actions in the Plan in relation to Student Accommodation build on the report, Student Accommodation: Demand & Supply, which was published last year by the Minister for Education and Skills. The full report can be accessed at .

The previous Minister for Education and Skills introduced two immediate actions following the publication of this report.

Firstly, funding was 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 examine the recommendations contained in the HEA Report and to provide a coordinating mechanism to ensure that the higher education institutions have access to information on new potential funding and delivery models.

There were 13 recommendations contained in the HEA Report on Student Accommodation and the current position in respect of all of the recommendations is as follows:

1. Encourage and support the take-up of the rent-a-room scheme by homeowners in areas adjacent to higher education institutions.

Action: Funding of €30,000 was provided to Union of Students in Ireland (USI) by the HEA to fund their #HomesForStudy campaign. While the campaign is still on‐going until the end of September 2016, USI is confident that at least 1,700 students will access accommodation directly as a result of the campaign. A full report will be completed following the end of the campaign.

2. Ensure continued flexibility by local authorities on application of guidelines for the specification of student accommodation.

3. Ensure the requirement for student accommodation is considered as part of the reviews of Development Plans by Local Authorities.

4. Local Authorities to consider the use of the Vacant Land Levy, provided for in the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015 to increase the supply of land that could potentially be used for the development of student accommodation in our cities.

Action: These 3 recommendations are all related to Planning and Development. These issues are being taken forward as part of the "Rebuilding Ireland" Action Plan and is specifically referenced in point (vii) above. Furthermore, new planning policy guidance was issued to local authorities and An Bord Pleanála on the use of student accommodation complexes outside of the academic year, as their use during these periods provides a potential additional income stream, thereby aiding the overall viability of these projects. This was contained in Circular PL 8/2016 APH 2/2016 which issued from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government on 28 July 2016, a copy of which has been forwarded to the Deputy.

5. Explore, with relevant stakeholders, the potential for joint initiatives involving HEIs and an approved housing agency to deliver student accommodation places.

Action: This recommendation was examined by the Inter-Departmental Steering Group on Student Accommodation and is being taken forward as part of the "Rebuilding Ireland" Action Plan and is specifically referenced in point (iv) above. The HFA have met individually with most of the Universities over the course of the past 2 months and officials in my Department are currently in discussion with officials in the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government in relation to the legislative requirements and other matters related to this measure.

6. Consider the provision of a capital grant specifically for HEI's development of student accommodation for a fixed period of time.

Action: This recommendation is being taken forward as part of the "Rebuilding Ireland" Action Plan and is specifically referenced in point (v) above.

7. Consider the potential to deliver future projects through a PPP financing model.

Action: This measure is currently being examined by the Inter-Departmental steering group on student accommodation.

8. The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) sees Student Accommodation as an area of investment consistent with its dual bottom line mandate of commercial investment with economic impact. ISIF to continue to engage with Higher Education Institutions to develop financing solutions for on-campus accommodation and with private sector developers for potential off-campus investments.

9. Consult with NAMA, on a commercial basis, regarding the availability of suitable properties and land that could be used for student accommodation developments either by individual HEIs or HEIs working on joint projects.

Action: In relation to these two recommendations, ISIF are now involved in the provision of funding to the development of a number of Student Accommodation projects in HEIs. Furthermore, the Head of Infrastructure and Credit Investments in ISIF and the Heads of Public Affairs and the Docklands SDZ in NAMA gave presentations to an information session specifically in relation to student accommodation which was arranged by my Department and took place on Friday 27 November 2015. All HEI's, representative bodies for the sectors (Irish Universities Association and Institutes of Technology Ireland) a number of Government Departments and other relevant stakeholders were in attendance at this information session and a number of follow-up meetings and conversations took place between relevant parties arising from this information session.

10. Consideration to be given to tax measures to develop on-campus accommodation for HEIs.

Action: This measure is currently being examined by the Inter-Departmental steering group on student accommodation.

11. It is recommended that any future developments should comply with the recommendations for enabled access as published by the Department of the Environment. HEIs should consult with relevant stakeholders including students with disabilities on adaptation of existing stock and design for new builds.

Action: This measure will be taken forward individually by each HEI as part of the development of their future plans for student accommodation bed spaces on campus.

12. HEIs should consider allocating up to 10% of new bed spaces for students with disabilities to allow for likely increased demand by these students.

Action: This recommendation has been communicated to each HEI. Each HEI has their own separate allocation policies and procedures for the allocation of on campus student accommodation bed spaces which includes the allocation of student accommodation to students with disabilities.

13. The Irish Survey of Student Engagement (ISSE) should be expanded to include relevant questions on student residences to enable research to be carried out on student preferences for accommodation and related issues.

Action: This matter is on the Agenda for discussion by the plenary group for the ISSE who examine potential future questions for inclusion in the ISSE.