Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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2649.To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost to fully fund the provision of 30,000 student beds to bridge the gap in student accommodation. [33278/24]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The new Student Accommodation Strategy will align with the long-term student accommodation policy and methodology which was approved by Government in January 2024. The aim of this policy is to increase the supply of student accommodation and to examine alternative solutions that will remove accommodation as a barrier to higher education through:

• Increasing the supply of student accommodation and relieving pressure on the private rental sector
• Supporting balanced regional development and the Technological University Transformation Agenda; proposals for accommodation projects for Technological Universities are currently under assessment.
• Enabling supply of new below market rate accommodation for target cohorts
• Reducing cost of delivery of new Purpose-Built Student Accommodation through development of standardised design options for Purpose Built Student Accommodation
• Promoting efficient use of existing building stock
• Examining commuting alternatives to accommodation close to campus
• Continued support of the rent-a-room scheme for provision of digs type accommodation

The results will determine what opportunities are available to meet the future demand for student accommodation through either new-build PBSA, leasing, acquisition or refurbishing or redevelopment of existing sites. A number of accommodation delivery mechanisms are being examined as part of this process.

The Technological University study is progressing in tandem with the Standardised Design Study for student accommodation to enable a viable, value for money, design model for state supported student accommodation based on regional needs and feasibility assessments.

As the above strategy development process is ongoing, it is not possible to estimate costs in relation to any of the accommodation delivery mechanisms.