Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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57. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the work his Department has taken to advance the provision of purpose-built student accommodation at third-level institutions around the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53895/25]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All includes specific actions to develop short-term state supports to activate the construction of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA), alongside the design of a long-term policy framework for sustained state involvement in the sector.

In the short term, my focus has been on enabling stalled PBSA projects with secured planning permission to proceed, addressing viability challenges that have hindered delivery.

With €100 million allocated the Short-Term Activation Programme was introduced as the direct response to this commitment, providing targeted funding to Higher Education Institutions to accelerate the construction of new PBSA. As part of the funding conditions, a proportion of these beds will be ring-fenced for students from target groups identified in the National Access Plan and offered at reduced rental rates.

On the 5th of September I approved funding of €67m to enable University College Dublin to enter contract for the delivery of 493 Student Accommodation beds and I officially opened the Maynooth University’s 116-bed project on the 8th of September. Both projects progressed under the Short-Term Activation Programme.

Progress is also being made under the Technological Sector Student Accommodation Programme, which aims to assess proposals from the Sector for projects located on or near each of the main campus locations.

Stage 1 of this programme involved the submission of strategic assessment documents, exploring a range of delivery models, including purpose-built student accommodation both on and off campus, leasing, joint ventures, and the repurposing of vacant properties. The second phase will focus on developing and evaluating preliminary business cases.

The programme follows the Infrastructure Guidelines Process to ensure all projects are rigorously assessed for strategic fit, feasibility, and alignment with national policy objectives.

The Student Accommodation Strategy 2025–2035 due to be published in Q4, 2025 sets out national policy to support access to appropriate housing for full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students attending publicly funded Higher Education Institutions.

The Strategy’s objective is to increase the supply of new student accommodation beds through viability measures and target affordability supports for priority groups identified under the National Access Plan without any additional recourse to the private rental market.