Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 December 2020
35. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if all public institutes of higher education have now agreed to provide refunds for unused accommodation; the actions his Department has taken to help students again battling with private accommodation providers for refunds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43159/20]
View answerI have been raising the issue of students paying for unused accommodation since the summer. Each time I have raised it, the Minister has assured me that at the very least, students with on-campus accommodation would get refunds. Will he confirm whether all universities are issuing refunds? I will come to the issue of private accommodation later. I really want to get this matter off the table. What the Minister is telling me is not what is happening on the ground.
I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for raising this matter. I acknowledge it is an issue she has rightly pursued for some time. The short answer is that I have been informed that all universities are now offering refunds for university-owned accommodation. If the Deputy has individual instances where that is not the case, I ask that she bring them to the attention of my office and I will bring those to the attention of the individual institutions.
I am conscious of the challenges faced by students regarding student accommodation this year due to both financial pressures and the blended learning format of the 2020-2021 academic year. The Deputy will be aware that the university sector has been actively engaging with these issues and is trying to respond to an evolving public health situation. My officials and I have liaised with the Irish Universities Association on this matter and have been assured that all universities have confirmed that students who opted to leave their university-owned student accommodation as a result of reduced on-campus activity will be offered refunds. The processing of these refunds is a matter for the universities themselves. All students who wish to receive a refund for their on-campus accommodation should engage directly with their university’s accommodation office. I will continue to liaise with the sector to encourage the availability of fair solutions to students in university-owned student accommodation.
I know the Deputy will raise privately owned accommodation in her supplementary question. I do not have figures to hand, but from memory I think about 7,000 students have chosen to continue to live in student accommodation for a variety of reasons, including perhaps a lack of access to the facilities they require at home, a requirement to attend practical classes or a desire to avail of the library. I am not suggesting the Deputy is saying this, but there are students who have decided they wish to remain in university-owned accommodation.
Yes, there are students who have done this, and my son is one of those in the accommodation in Trinity College Dublin. I am not disputing that but it is not good enough that public institutions have refused to give refunds or are giving only partial refunds. Many have tried to give the smallest refunds possible. I have received recent reports that some universities, including Dublin City University, are refusing to give refunds unless they were requested by 5 October, which was two weeks before the level 5 restrictions were even announced. Other universities, including University of Limerick, are only issuing refunds for the six weeks of level 5 restrictions. Universities were instructed to move online to level 3 restrictions at the end of December. The refund for unused accommodation should be for the entire semester. The universities may be saying that they are issuing refunds but they are not being upfront about this. I ask the Minister to have another look at it. I will forward him cases where this has happened to people.
I thank the Deputy and will pursue the two specific issues she has raised and any individual cases that she wishes to bring to my attention. My view on this is the same as hers, namely, that in the case of college-owned accommodation, refunds should be issued. In fairness to our universities, I understand it has been a very challenging year for them but it has been an extremely challenging year for their students and they need to be as flexible as they possibly can in that regard. The Higher Education Authority is there to assist them.
Ultimately, we need to build a lot more student accommodation. We have a target of additional purpose-built student accommodation for 21,000 more students by 2024. As I said to the Deputy before at the education committee, I am concerned that we are too reliant on the private market for student accommodation. We are nearly pitting students against families or working professionals for limited accommodation, particularly in our cities. I am very interested in working with this House and with the education committee to ensure we fulfil the commitments in Rebuilding Ireland which is to have 21,000 additional places for students in purpose-built accommodation by 2024.
As the Minister said, most students are not in on-campus accommodation, but in the private rented sector. Private student accommodation has been the preferred model for successive Governments. When I raised the issue of private accommodation in recent months, the Minister said there was not a lot he could do.
I wish to commend the private accommodation providers who have issued refunds but many have not, and they need to be called out. I have spoken to the universities about this. I want them to be aware of this in order that they can take the providers who have exploited students off their lists so that in coming years students will not avail of their accommodation.
Telling students and families what they want to hear does not help them in any way. They need a Government which is willing to stand up for them. Many families have been pushed into poverty because of what is happening with student accommodation refunds.
I have tried to provide a variety of ways to assist students and their families financially within the resources and levers available to me. I agree that any student accommodation provider that is not acting reasonably will not be forgotten by students and their families. People should reflect on that. Figures show that in Ireland, unlike other countries, approximately 38% of students remain living at home during their time in college. Approximately 19% are in purpose-built student accommodation and the remainder are in private accommodation. I would like to see a significant increase in purpose-built college-owned accommodation. We need to find a solution for our technological universities. The largest university in the country is TU Dublin and yet technological universities do not have a mechanism by which they can build their own student accommodation. I intend working with my Government colleagues to find a solution to that.
