Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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97. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will commit to funding purpose built affordable accommodation for students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45795/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am actively prioritising the supply and affordability of student accommodation, in recognition of the challenges our students are facing. Through “Housing for All”, the Government has approved development of policy and funding to increase the supply of student accommodation.

I have to date secured Government approval of up to €61m in funding to unlock the development of up to 1,000 additional student accommodation beds in partnership with our University sector. These projects which are being progressed under my Department’s Short Term Activation Plan, are developments that had planning permission but had stalled as a result of increased construction and financing costs.

My Officials are examining similar proposals with planning permission with UCD and TCD. Subject to approval, I will be seeking Government support in the coming weeks to progress these additional projects through the NDP review process.

Government approved investment of €1m in 2023/2024 to assist our TUs to undertake a needs assessment for student accommodation in key regional areas. Department officials and the HEA have been extensively engaging with the sector to progress this study. The HEA is currently finalising the first report of this study, which is a supply and demand analysis of student accommodation across each region. This report will inform long term policy development for state supported student accommodation for the TU sector.

The output of this study will inform the development of the long term student accommodation policy which I plan to bring to Government before the end of the year. The policy is expected to provide for a range of measures to address student accommodation challenges, including purpose-built student accommodation along with other measures such as the promotion of digs accommodation and identification of suitable refurbishment projects.

For this academic year there are an additional 938 beds in our Universities with 255 of these opened in UCC. In addition, over 700 privately funded beds are due for completion in Cork this Autumn. There are also 410 digs rooms available in Cork as of the 13th October.