Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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218. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the current and projected demand for student accommodation in the Dublin region, as identified by his Department and higher education institutions; the actions being taken by his Department to support the provision of student accommodation, including engagement with relevant Departments and agencies; the supports available to students who are unable to secure accommodation and may be at risk of deferring or discontinuing their studies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22110/26]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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The National Student Accommodation Strategy 2026-2035 has been published. The Strategy, which is available on the government’s website, sets out a pathway to make higher education more accessible by addressing two critical challenges, accommodation supply and viability and accommodation affordability.

Over 16,000 new student beds have been delivered since the first strategy was published in 2017, demonstrating a significant expansion of purpose-built student accommodation. Current Total Public and Private supply in the Dublin region is circa 29,100. As of March 2026, over 4,800 student beds were advertised through higher education institutions, 921 of these are within the Dublin region.

Through the Short Term Activation Programme, €67 million in Exchequer funding was allocated to University College Dublin to facilitate the delivery of 493 student beds at its Belfield campus. Furthermore, approval has been granted for €40.5 million in Exchequer funding to support the provision of 358 student beds at Trinity College Dublin’s Dartry campus.

Current projections indicate an emerging demand for approximately 42,000 additional student beds nationwide over the next decade, underscoring the scale of the challenge and opportunity.

The strategy responds to this by removing the barriers that have prevented student accommodation development at the scale required to meet this level of demand.

To address supply and viability the strategy sets out a balanced approach including: -

• A commitment to long term State-backed measures to activate supply, working in partnership with the private sector.
• Support for the development of accommodation on public campuses as well as on private sites near to campus, subject to State Aid clearance.
• The development of a framework, in line with relevant Departmental consents, to support universities to develop nomination agreements with the private sector.
• The expansion of the Technological Sector Student Accommodation Programme to include traditional universities enabling the sector as a whole to meet demand; and
• The enhanced supply of student beds through promotion of Rent-a-Room accommodation.