Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1550. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the assessments his Department has carried out on the impact of students studying English language courses on housing pressures in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42335/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1551. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to outline his Department’s strategy in relation to the housing needs of students studying on English language courses in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42336/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1552. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the percentage of students studying on English language courses who were housed in the private rented sector, who were housed in designated student accommodation, who were staying with host families and who were in other types of accommodation, in the last five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42337/25]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1550, 1551 and 1552 together.

Information relating to the various sources of accommodation for students studying English language courses is is not available in my Department.

Access to affordable and secure student accommodation is now the single biggest non-academic barrier for students seeking to attend higher education. Student demand for accommodation places increased strain on the private rental sector, particularly in towns and cities with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

In response, my colleague, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, will publish a new student accommodation strategy later this year, which aims to build a fairer, more sustainable system. The strategy will deliver a roadmap for how we fund, design, and deliver accommodation that is affordable, sustainable, and regionally balanced, ensuring that accommodation cost and availability are no longer barriers to entering or progressing through higher education.

Fundamentally, all demand analysis underpinning this strategy is focused on full-time students, enrolled in approved courses at public HEIs. This targeted approach ensures that resources and planning efforts are directed where they are most needed and where public funding responsibilities lie.

To effectively address the challenges in student accommodation, the Government is employing four key tools: the development of standardised design approaches to improve efficiency and reduce costs; the use of enhanced supply and demand data to inform planning and investment decisions; the Technological Sector Student Accommodation Programme to support regionally balanced, institution-specific delivery models; and the national student accommodation survey to capture the lived experiences and needs of students across the country.