James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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179. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of third-level students that applied for funding under the Student Assistance Fund in the past ten years in tabular form; the number that were granted funding; the number that were refused funding by educational institution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51431/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available.  We are working on compiling a response to the question raised and we will revert to the Deputy in due course.

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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180. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of third-level students that are experiencing housing poverty; and if he has plans to survey third-level students to ascertain the pervasiveness of housing poverty among the student population. [51432/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The information requested by the Deputy is not held by my Department.

I understand that this is a very difficult time for students seeking to secure accommodation. The Government recognises this as a critical issue. 

Approximately 40% of students who rent accommodation do so in purpose built student accommodation, with 60% in the wider private rental market. Accommodation shortages in the private rental market, which have been made worse by the effects of Covid, have impacted significantly on students this year.

As a country, we need to dramatically increase the supply of all types of housing and accommodation, including student accommodation.

My Department and I have been engaging with representatives from the higher education sector, including student representatives, on this issue. Together with these stakeholders and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, we are working to develop a stronger pipeline of affordable student accommodation.  

Last week I announced an enhanced Student Assistance Fund of €17 million for the coming academic year.  This Fund is a critical resource for students who are experiencing financial difficulties, whether they are ongoing or temporary in nature.  It is available to students to support them in meeting a wide range of costs including rent, food, childcare and essential travel.

I expect to receive the final report of the independent Student Grant Review in the next few months.  This will inform policy priorities and future considerations regarding the development of student supports. I have secured significant resources in Budget 2022 to commence the process of making improvements in the Student Grant Scheme.

In addition to securing resources to cater for additional demand in SUSI, it is a priority for me that we begin to make changes to the Student Grant Scheme to help deal with the increased costs of attending college. 

I also intend to continue to make progress in the implementation of the National Access Plan, which supports target groups who are otherwise under-represented in higher education, including though provision of bursaries. 

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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181. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the actions he is taking to ensure third-level educational institutions build and operate not-for-profit purpose-built student accommodation to alleviate the student housing crisis. [51433/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I understand that this is a very difficult time for students seeking to secure accommodation. The Government recognises this as a critical issue. 

Fundamentally the challenge in one of supply and as a country, we need to increase the supply of all types of housing and accommodation, including student accommodation.

That is why the Government has launched Housing for All, led by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.  This sets out a series of actions which will be delivered to fix the housing crisis.  The plan is backed by the largest ever housing budget in the history of the State to transform our housing system, in excess of €20bn.

We have also been taking steps under the National Student Accommodation Strategy, published in 2017,  to support increased supply. Eight key targets and 27 actions are outlined in the strategy. The target for new purpose built student accommodation beds was for the provision of 7,000 bed spaces by end 2019 and a total of 21,000 additional purpose built student accommodation beds by 2024. 

The 2019 target was exceeded, with 8,300 bed spaces completed by the end of 2019.

As of Q2 2021, 10,700 bed spaces have been completed, work is underway on site on an additional 3,500, with planning permission granted on a further 11,300.

Actions under the strategy have also included ensuring that higher education institutions have access to low-cost financing.  Since 2017, the Housing Finance Agency has approved a total of €157 million in loans, to support the provision of more than 1,400 new student bed spaces across three universities.

During the Summer, together with Minister Donohoe and Minister O’Brien, I announced that €75 million of financing had been successfully sourced for the Council of Europe Bank for the building of student accommodation in universities.

Housing For All also contains a commitment to support technological universities to develop purpose-built student accommodation, through access to appropriate financing, and a specific action in relation to legislating to allow for Technological Universities to borrow from the Housing Finance Agency.  I will be working to progress this with colleagues across Government.

My Department has been engaging with the higher education sector, together with the Department of Housing, to work through the range of issues identified by institutions to seek to develop a stronger pipeline of student accommodation.