Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 November 2022
506. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science when he anticipates the student accommodation unit will bring forward a new student accommodation policy for Cabinet approval; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57708/22]
View answerThe difficulties faced by students with regard to student accommodation are an issue of which my Department and I are actively pursuing, and their resolution is a high priority for my Department as a whole.
In October the Minister updated the Cabinet Committee on Housing and received support on initial plans for policy development for the provision of student accommodation. The Minister and his officials are actively progressing a new policy that bridges the challenging gap between the viability of delivering purpose-built student accommodation and subsequent rental affordability for students.
This will include for the first time the State assisting with the cost of building student accommodation beds and unlocking projects which have been postponed in return for affordable rents for target students. Detailed work is currently being advanced with a section dedicated to student accommodation having been established in the Department. It is my intention to bring a memo to Government by the end of November setting out our policy objectives.
