Vol. 1054 No. 6
1. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the progress being made with regard to student accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23472/24]
First, I congratulate the Minister on his new position. I look forward to working with him and hope we can work together in a good, collaborative way going forward, doing our best to remedy some of the difficult issues that lie ahead for both students and staff and within the entire further and higher education sector.
My question relates to the student accommodation crisis.
I thank Deputy Farrell for her kind wishes.
Last month, the Taoiseach and I announced the capital investment of €100 million from the national development plan windfall allocation for the delivery of student accommodation projects. This enables the activation of phase 1 of UCD's 493-bed project and the progression of the Maynooth 116-bed project to the construction stage and the DCU project of 405 beds through the tender stage. These projects are part of the short-term activation measures to stimulate supply of projects which had planning permission but had stalled.
The long-term policy approach was approved by my predecessor and the Government on 16 January 2024. This policy will inform the new student accommodation strategy which will be developed throughout 2024 and will include a series of stakeholder consultations. Interdepartmental and expert advisory groups are being established and will inform the responses. The policy approach includes measures for increasing supply of student accommodation, reducing cost of delivery through development of standardised design guidance and promoting efficient use of existing stock and vacancy while supporting balanced regional development. It will continue to have a focus on the provision of digs accommodation.
The technological university feasibility study has established an account of available student accommodation supply and has projected future supply and demand on a national and regional level. Phase 2 of the study is under way to identify project proposals to meet the future demand for student accommodation. A number of delivery mechanisms are being examined as part of this process.
It is my intention to develop a programmatic approach to facilitate future student accommodation proposals. This work will provide a framework of delivery models and funding options that will be regionally tailored. The HEA will provide its next phase report to my Department by the end of May 2024. This approach, coupled with the study on standardised design for student accommodation, which is due for completion by the end of quarter 4, will help to shape the future delivery of accommodation for our students.
The Minister and I have had dealings in the past when I was the Opposition spokesperson on public expenditure and reform. I have always found the Minister to be very honest, frank and straight to the point, which I think is a very good quality and I hope it is a quality he will bring to this portfolio. If I am honest, in my view, that was lacking in the previous Minister.
The Minister referred to the UCD beds. There was a continuous re-announcement of these same beds. They were first announced in 2018, then paused in November 2022, re-announced in June 2023, re-announced in January 2024 and then again in April 2024. The Minister knows the huge pressure that students are under. He knows that at the coming of the academic year, students always face huge challenges. There is panic around housing, whether they will be able to find somewhere that is affordable, whether the landlord is going to increase the rent, or whether the only place they can afford is so far away that they are likely to spend every weekday on a bus or a train, commuting to college. Year after year, the student housing crisis has got worse under this Government. I hope the Minister can tell us he is going to bring clarity, frankness, openness and honesty in regard to student accommodation.
I thank the Deputy very much for that ringing endorsement. I am delighted. What I would say is that a substantial amount of progress has been made in this area in recent years, and that needs to be recognised. This is an interdepartmental process and we must include my colleagues, the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, in the Department of Finance, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in order to give an overall picture of housing needs. I am acutely aware of this. I represent a constituency where there is no third level institution or university, although there is an agricultural college. Nonetheless, I am aware that for many of those I represent, commuting has become the new norm.
Today, before I came to the House, I asked the officials in the Department to check the digs that are currently available in the State today. There are 2,200 beds available today. Substantial changes were made to that element. I believe it is a fundamental part of the fix that we need going forward. It is certainly something that is in discussion with the Ministers, Deputy Michael McGrath and Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that I would like to see pushed out.
I would be the first person to say I think something is going well but I genuinely believe that in terms of student accommodation, we are dramatically failing students. If we look at last year's budget, not a red cent was given to capital for student accommodation. If we look at the announcements by the Minister's predecessor, there were continuous re-announcements of the same beds. In my view, that is very unfair to students and parents who are trying to plan for the year ahead. Where are we at with regard to the technological universities? The TUs thought they would be able to borrow and we discovered only a number of months back from Eurostat that there was no further progress in regard to the TUs being able to do that. We also see that there was nothing to the student accommodation strategy that the Minister announced in January and the only new thing was that he said he was going to start using vacant properties. When I contacted the universities, none of them had vacant properties available for that. September is coming in only a few short weeks and we need to see affordable student accommodation coming on stream.
I remind the Deputy that in budget 2024, the rent tax credit was increased to €750.
Not for capital.
In budget 2023, it was also increased. The technological universities element the Deputy referred to is a new area for them. Being able to borrow is a new area for them. In addition, the creation of large-scale capital projects of this nature is also going to be a new area for them. Since I was appointed to this Department, having come from an infrastructure Department, I have been anxious to make sure that both the Higher Education Authority and my Department lend assistance. For many of the technological universities, as the Deputy knows, there will be capacity issues and constraints in areas where they have no experience because they were not allowed to have experience in that area up to now. In the coming months, as the technological universities give their assessments of their needs going forward, and with the HEA working with them, we will see progress in this area.
That is budgetary dependent, of course, and all of these are budgetary dependent. Between now and the Estimates, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, together with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, will drill down further into this.
Before we move on, I point out that Priority Questions are moving quicker than expected and we are now on Priority Question No. 3. Deputies should be forewarned.
3. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the progress being made with regard to the current challenges in the apprenticeship system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23473/24]
The Minister was just talking about capacity issues. One of the big things in terms of capacity is to make sure we have the workforce that can build the different projects that we need, particularly when it comes to accommodation needs.
That is why I would like the Minister to outline what progress is being made at the moment with regard to the current challenges in the apprenticeship system. Craft apprentices are coming to me and telling me they are in crisis.
Strong demand for craft apprenticeships, which is a good thing, reflecting a very buoyant construction sector, has resulted in a 25% increase in craft apprenticeship registrations since 2019.
My Department is overseeing the implementation of a plan put in place by the National Apprenticeship Office which has, to date, nearly halved the number of craft apprentices waiting more than six months for their phase 2 off-the-job training, from 5,319 in October 2023 to 2,976 in April 2024. Craft apprenticeships take 48 months to complete. As part of the plan, the NAO has put a renewed focus on speeding up delivery of two of the 25 craft programmes, pipefitting and electrical instrumentation, that are currently taking significantly more than 48 months to complete, impacting 279 apprentices waiting for training.
Significant resources are being invested to further increase the capacity of the apprenticeship programme system. Some €67 million was allocated in budget 2024, bringing total investment in the area to €298 million. Some €17 million in capital investment was made in 2023 to expand provision in current facilities and develop new facilities as well as for equipment. The NAO is leading a national recruitment campaign which has resulted in 58 new instructor posts so far, with more to be advertised when capital projects come on stream. In addition, more than 80 instructor posts have been converted from fixed-term to permanent to help support retention. ETBs have been mandated by SOLAS to commence three apprenticeship intakes per workshop per year to support the delivery plan of the NAO.
As a direct result of these actions, apprenticeship delivery capacity in the ETBs has grown substantially, from 5,613 in 2023 to 7,545 in 2024, a 34% increase. It is my priority to maintain that momentum, continue growing the apprenticeship system and ensure there are enough training places for current and future skills needs.
The Minister's own Department and SOLAS recently produced the Report on the Analysis of Skills for Residential Construction & Retrofitting 2023-2030. That report estimated that we need to increase the size of the construction sector by 50,831 new entrants by the year 2030 if we are to meet our targets. What is interesting is that the report used 2019 as its base year. Between 2019 and 2022, however, the size of the construction workforce actually fell. If the craft apprenticeships were pumping out qualified tradespeople adequately and quickly, that might not be a cause for concern, but there is a huge cause for concern in the failure of craft apprenticeships and it relates to the wider failure around housing. If our craft apprenticeship system cannot produce the necessary workers, how will we build the homes we so desperately need? We know that so many craft apprentices are at a crisis point because it is taking so long for them to get qualified. It is taking them longer than the four years, which is absolutely outrageous. They are not able to get the money they deserve to get. They really are at a crisis point. I hope the Minister, now that he is in this Department, takes this and really pushes it forward.
I agree with an awful lot of what the Deputy said, having grown up in a house where we always had craft apprentices related to the construction sector. When the wheels came off the wagon in this country in 2008 and 2010 to 2011, we did not have the certainty to provide a great many of these young women and young men with gainful employment. People who would ordinarily have gone into this went away. Now our economy is far more buoyant and we have a job to do to make sure they feel safe and that this is a career path and a career choice for them. To be fair to SOLAS, the Department and the ETBs, substantial investment in this area has been made to make sure we get those craft apprentices in.
As a point of note, of the 25 craft apprenticeship programmes, only four - my note should not say "only" four - are on average completing phase 6 over 48 months and two are completing it significantly more than 48 months. The situation needs to be improved - I acknowledge that, and there is always room for improvement in the area of education - but I do not think the glass is half empty.
I totally agree with the Minister's first point about people having certainty. In addition, that again shows us the role of the State. At the end of the day, the State is the largest employer, and that is a very important point. Of course people were concerned about certainty after the crash, but I am looking at those who are in the system right now and who feel like they are not heard or listened to. A lot of the time they feel their voices just are not heard. I think the Minister is saying he is willing and hoping to bring voice to that, which is really important. The reality is that in a number of the craft apprentices, it is taking longer. Unfortunately, I do not have the figures right in front of me, but it is taking up to six years. I have had those figures provided to me by SOLAS. When people do not have that certainty as to how long it will take them to finish up, they will go to Australia - that is the reality - because they just do not feel they will get qualified in the time they should be.
I think the Deputy needs to take solace and comfort from the fact that a substantial amount of additional money, €67 million, was put into this in the previous budget. One of the identifiers is the number of additional tutors now working in this area who were not working in it previously and whom we need to sign off people in order that they can become skilled craftspersons in their own right. Oftentimes when I am in this Chamber, I listen to people say, "If you are saying you are going to build 35,000 houses, I am going to build 65,000 houses." I often muse to myself how they are going to build them unless they have the capacity in the workforce. An awful lot of that is just picking numbers out of the sky to facilitate a news headline without any real backup figures. If you talk to SOLAS, our Department and the ETBs, they are working flat out to try to make sure people are-----
I do. I talk to SOLAS.
As well as that, they are working to get people into the programmes. There is no point in saying, "If you are saying you are going to build 35,000 houses, I will build 65,000", without a plan as to how to get young people into apprenticeships.
But we are missing the targets.
4. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is aware of the lack of eligibility to access student grants for persons who hold stamp 4 visas; and, if so, if he and his Department are evaluating expanding the criteria. [23525/24]
Is the Minister if he is aware of the lack of eligibility to access student grants for persons who hold stamp 4 visas and, if so, what he and his Department are doing to evaluate expanding the criteria. I hope they are doing so. I think we have raised this with the Minister's predecessor every year for the past four years. I have also contacted the present Minister's Department numerous times upon his taking up the role so I hope he is aware of this and will be able to outline what he is doing to change it and make it fairer for those on stamp 4s.
I know Deputy Gannon has been in touch with my office with regard to a particular issue. In recent weeks I have not been available-----
I know.
-----but my office will gladly meet him with regard to the specific issue he has.
I thank Deputy Gannon for raising this question. To be eligible to apply for a student grant, you must be an Irish, EU, EEA, UK or Swiss national or you must have one of the permissions to remain provided by the Minister for Justice, which are listed in the Student Support Act 2011 and the Student Support Regulations 2024. The Deputy may wish to note these permissions relate to the underlying basis of a person's right to remain in the State, for example, as a refugee or a dependent child of a naturalised Irish citizen, rather than the stamp a person has been granted.
I am aware that, depending on the permission underlying a person's stamp, not everyone who has been given a stamp 4 fulfils the eligibility criteria of the scheme. Our Department continually monitors eligibility for the scheme. For example, in last year's options paper, we considered the inclusion of persons who benefited from the Department of Justice regularisation scheme, and we have included students who have received permission under strand 2 of that scheme in the student grant support scheme for the coming academic year.
In respect of this year's options paper, the Department is exploring further options with respect to increasing the range of eligible immigration permissions in the student grant scheme. We will have regard to the query raised by Deputy Gannon and will continue to liaise on an ongoing basis with officials from the Department of Justice on the various immigration permissions in the context of student grant eligibility.
I thank the Minister. I acknowledge the diligence of his office in liaising back and forth with me. From the Minister's response, I am conscious he is aware of the issue. I might just get a commitment from him that we can have a meeting-----
-----sometime over the next week or so or, if not, over the coming weeks. I will leave it there.
That is fine. I will arrange that. As a more substantive reply, I will be meeting the Minister, Deputy McEntee, on this issue as well. As Deputy Gannon knows, the stamps relate primarily to the Department of Justice, but my office will arrange that meeting.
I thank the Minister. I look forward to the meeting.
5. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he has any plans as regards the area of student digs regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23474/24]
The Minister mentioned how important digs are in the provision of student accommodation. This year, I published a very workable regulation on student digs. Will he give a commitment to taking a look at that Bill and outline his own plans in this area?
As the Deputy will be aware, the rent-a-room scheme is under the remit of the Minister for Finance, my colleague Deputy McGrath. However, I acknowledge that my Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are the main users of the scheme. Therefore, I am very conscious of the need to safeguard our students in digs accommodations, which are typically more informal and flexible arrangements in family homes. For this reason the usual Residential Tenancy Board protections do not apply to this type of accommodation provision.
In line with Housing for All objectives to increase protections in private rental accommodation, the Department published a voluntary regulatory framework and sample licence agreement in September 2023. The guidance aims to assist both homeowners and students who wish to participate in the rent-a-room scheme and highlights to them the key issues to consider when entering into the scheme. I encourage all students and homeowners using this scheme to consider this advice and to ensure all parameters are agreed in advance of entering into any agreement.
My Department has engaged with the HEI sector and has shared the final version of both the voluntary regulatory framework and the licence agreement for publication on their websites and for sharing with students. An individual can rent a room or rooms in their home, retain their social welfare entitlements where applicable, and earn up to €14,000 in rental income before having to pay tax. The Government also approved an extension of the rent-a-room relief scheme to disregard income earned when determining medical card eligibility and when examining reckonable income for support under the SUSI grant scheme. In addition, the scheme has been extended to allow local authority tenants to participate, which is very important. This will be on an administrative basis initially, targeting the provision of additional rooms for third-level students.
While I note the Deputy's position, I would caution against cliff-edge measures which could significantly impact on the digs supply and drive people out of the market. My Government colleagues and I will continue our work to increase awareness, safeguards and availability of the scheme which is an important provider of flexible and affordable accommodation for students and the wider rental market.
The Minister mentioned a cliff edge. Has he read my legislation and where does he thinks it would result in a cliff edge? It would not provide an equal level of protection as someone in a typical tenancy because I have recognised that these students would be living in someone's home. However, it would have ensured they could not be made homeless overnight. I think that is reasonable. It would have ensured a young woman was afforded a degree of privacy whereby she could have a lock on her bedroom door which would give her a level of privacy and protection, which I believe the Minister would agree can be needed. That is reasonable. It would have allowed these homes to be included in the Government's rent pressure zones. That is reasonable. It would have given both the student and the homeowner access to the RTB for dispute resolution, therefore protecting both parties. I think again that is reasonable. I was told the Minister's Department was going to give this Bill due consideration, but am I hearing now he believes it is a cliff edge and he will not be?
No. The Department will consider and will have regard to absolutely everything. One of the things we do not want to do, by virtue of the introduction of any measure, is for people are already participating in the scheme to feel threatened. In many cases these are retired people and will have to make a declaration of interests. I stayed in digs myself when I was in college and the person I was staying with was retired and derived an income from that arrangement. It has come back into vogue much more in recent years than it was. It was gone in many cases. As I said a while ago, there are 2,200 beds available today. With the voluntary scheme that is in place, we are anxious to engage with student unions, the representatives of the universities, colleges and everybody else to ensure the standards are appropriate. We do not want people in inappropriate settings, but by the same token, I have to be very conscious of the fact this is housing legislation which my colleague, the Minister for housing, will have to have regard to in the first instance. We do not want a situation where we would face a cliff edge, and that is a very obvious concern we would have.
I totally get that, and that is why I put together reasonable legislation that was regularly mentioned by the Minister's predecessor. Because of the housing crisis and the disastrous response by the Government, people do not realistically have much other choice than to go into digs. Digs are fantastic and it can benefit both the person living in them and the homeowner.
My Bill is very reasonable and doable and its language mirrors that of the existing Residential Tenancies Act. I ensured there was input from expert groups and from legal practitioners and that it would bring regulatory oversight to an area that does not have it. It would very much formalise a very informal relationship.
What is very interesting is that survey data shows that it is not just students who want this but homeowners themselves. If we take the example of an elderly woman living by herself and somebody keeps telling her they will be good for the rent next week or the week after but never pays, at least that person would have access to the RTB and could have it dealt with. These kinds of protections are needed now that we are so reliant on digs.
Again, this is a matter in the first instance for the Minister for housing. I am sure there are very good elements in the Deputy's Bill and I am not saying there are not. I understand what the Deputy is saying. However, I would caution against the kind of narrative - I am not suggesting for one minute that Deputy Farrell is saying it - that digs are somehow a last resort. They should not be spoken of with that terminology or phraseology, that when everything else has run out, there are digs. For a lot of people, the transition from an isolated rural location to a city centre can be quite difficult and it might very well be a first resort. The financial supports being made available by the Government through the tax breaks and by allowing people in local authority housing to avail of that scheme are very welcome. It is the kind of initiative I want to see furthered out.
As well as that, having stayed in such accommodation myself and having had a very positive experience there for the first year I was in university, which made the transition easier, I do not have any difficulty with people being able to go to a vehicle, whether that is the university or whatever, to ensure situations can be identified. In the first instance, however, it is a matter for the Minister for housing and I will be raising it with him in the context of what the Deputy has said.
