Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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416. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason that the National Student Accommodation Strategy 2016-2024 targeted no additional student accommodation in Waterford over the eight years of the plan; if this plan is to be updated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45481/22]

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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435. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason that the National Student Accommodation Strategy 2016-2024 targeted no additional student accommodation in Waterford over the eight-year life of the plan; if this plan is to be updated or replaced and is still fit for purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45507/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 416 and 435 together.

The National Student Accommodation Strategy set a target of at least an additional 21,000 bed spaces being constructed nationally by 2024.

The PBSA bed-space projections in the report considered the plans of higher education institutions, and planning permission applications from private sector developers.

The strategy also considers the alignment of this supply with projected demand. The supply and demand data was drawn from a number of sources including extensive Higher Education Authority research and contacts with higher education institutions and a number of private organisations including developers, managers and providers of purpose build student accommodation. In this context the strategy references demand for a further 343 bed spaces in Waterford by 2024.

The interim target of constructing 7,000 additional bed spaces by end 2019 as set out in Rebuilding Ireland: Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness was exceeded, with 8,300 bed spaces constructed in that period. The final National Student Accommodation Strategy target is the construction of at least an additional 21,000 bed spaces by 2024 and in relation to achieving that target my Department has been advised that at the end of 2021 an additional 12,149 bed spaces had been constructed with a further 3,128 on site and plans approved for an additional 10,493.

However, the strategy recognises that the demand for purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) currently outstrips supply and this trend will continue to 2024.

In the current wider very challenging housing environment and given the considerably increased costs of construction, the scarcity of PBSA provision and housing generally and the knock-on pressures on students trying to secure affordable accommodation, I have asked my officials to concentrate not on revising the current strategy but rather on radically altering the current model which is predicated primarily on the supply of PBSA from the private sector.

In this context I secured Government approval in July to advance an innovative policy that for the first time will see the State assist with the cost of building student accommodation beds in return for affordable rents for students. Detailed work is currently being advanced with a section dedicated to student accommodation having been established in the Department. Meetings will now take place with representative bodies and stakeholders as well as individual Higher Education Institutes with a view to developing pathways to accommodation and accelerating their delivery.