Written answers
Thursday, 27 March 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Student Accommodation
Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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15. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department has plans to ensure that more student accommodation in university towns such as Maynooth is made available for students in desperate need of it; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14624/25]
James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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As a short-term measure to address the challenges faced by students in accessing accommodation, the Government approved funding for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to activate projects with planning permission that had stalled due to cost and viability challenges.
The Maynooth University Student Accommodation project is being funded as part of this Short-term Activation Programme. The project is currently onsite, with 116 beds under construction with expected delivery for the 2025- 2026 academic year. Under this measure a percentage of the new beds are ringfenced for our target group of students; those considered most disadvantaged by the SUSI, NAP and DARE schemes.
In the new Student Accommodation Strategy, which is in development, I am seeking to both increase the supply of student accommodation to benefit students and also to free up private rental homes.
To achieve this, focus is centred on a combination of; increased uptake of digs accommodation, examination of vacant property, and the development and leasing of purpose-built student accommodation.
I will also examine sustainable transport alternatives to accommodation close to campus.
The objectives of the Strategy are to:
- increase the supply of state supported student accommodation
- reduce the cost of delivery through development of standardised design guidance
- promote efficient use of existing building stock through refurbishment and an examination of vacancy
- support balanced regional development through the Technological University (TU) Student Accommodation Programme
- promote digs accommodation
The reports from these studies are expected shortly.
I intend on delivering the Strategy later in Q2 2025.
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