Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022
617. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his views on the use of student accommodation for emergency housing during term time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38866/22]
View answerPrimary responsibility for securing accommodation for persons fleeing the war in the Ukraine rests with my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Minister O'Gorman.
It is my Department's understanding that as of 1 July Minister O'Gorman's Department has contracted over 4,900 beds in student accommodation in this context with some of this accommodation being provided by Higher Education Institutions and some by private providers.
It is a matter for individual accommodation providers whether or not they contract with Minister O'Gorman's Department for provision of such services and for the duration of any such contracts.
Furthermore, it is my Department's understanding that student accommodation owned by Higher Education Institutions that is being provided to persons fleeing the war in Ukraine is being provided on a time limited basis only and that such accommodation will be made available for primary student use ahead of the forthcoming academic year.
Since becoming Minister, both I and my Department officials have engaged intensively with both the Minister and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the wider higher education sector and stakeholders on student accommodation issues, within the context of overall housing policy. In a welcome development, my recent engagement with the sector indicates that hundreds of additional bed spaces are to be made available by higher education institutions (HEIs) for the start of the forthcoming academic year. In addition, a major development of 674 additional bed spaces underway at NUI Galway is expected to be delivered later in the academic year.
