Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 October 2023
76. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the reason there was such an absence of measures related to purpose-built student accommodation in budget 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45692/23]
View answerIt was astonishing for most people that student accommodation was not mentioned once in the contributions of the Ministers, Deputy Michael McGrath and Donohoe, on budget day at a time when people and students are struggling as a result of a lack of student accommodation, both purpose built and general, to be availed of. Will the Minister give an update on the issue of student accommodation within budget 2024?
As the Deputy well knows, student accommodation is addressed through capital. The Government made clear on budget day, in advance of budget day and in a previous Government decision that in the national development plan, NDP, the uplift and extra funding in capital would be dealt with through the NDP review process, which is due to conclude around the end of the year. That will be an opportunity to try to progress a number of important student accommodation projects and I am actively working with colleagues across government, including the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, on a number of exciting initiatives.
The Deputy and I agree we need to increase both the supply and the affordability of student accommodation and to recognise, as I do, that it is a significant challenge for students, parents and families. That is why we have changed the policy on student accommodation since last November. Until then, the State was investing zero euro and zero cent in direct funding for student accommodation. It was being done through the private market or through colleges, by borrowing or accessing the European Investment Bank, EIB, or in other ways.
We are now, rightly, using taxpayers' money to fund projects and get them going and, as we have discussed previously, that means projects in Dublin City University, DCU, Maynooth University, the University of Limerick and the University of Galway. Students have gone back to college this year with about 900 additional student accommodation beds owned by colleges that opened this year compared with last year, and with about 2,000 more private beds this year than last year. Furthermore, the budget helps with the affordability aspect by expanding the rent tax credit. In addition, after meeting students’ unions, I recently approved an additional €440,000 to the student assistance fund, specifically targeted at students who are experiencing difficulty with the cost or availability of student accommodation, and that has been dispersed across the universities, which I hope and know will help in a meaningful way.
The Deputy will have seen the benefit of the 674 beds that are being delivered for University of Galway, but we are absolutely determined to do more at pace on student accommodation. There are significant opportunities for University College Dublin, UCD, and Trinity College Dublin, in particular, and more for DCU, and I will be happy to work with the Deputy in the context of the NDP review.
Students protested outside Leinster House just days before the budget because the cost of student accommodation is at an all-time high. When we hear about people paying the likes of €12,000 for student accommodation, we know something has gone terribly wrong. Affordability is the crux of the issue.
We are seeing high-end accommodation coming on stream. Students are saying they do not need this kind of high-end accommodation and cannot afford this kind of high-end student accommodation. Students are having to commute long, crazy distances to try to get to college. To be perfectly honest, I cannot even imagine the impact that level of stress and strain is having on the dropout rate. Will the Minister also clarify when the student accommodation strategy will be published because students are waiting to see that published?
While I agree with the Deputy about affordability, you come at affordability from a range of ways. Affordability is about making sure a family or student can afford to pay the price of college and of renting for college. Reducing fees, increasing grants, extending the renter's tax credit and specifically putting €440,000 into the student assistance fund for students having difficulty with the cost of accommodation means we have help in the here and now and from the get-go. I agree fully with the Deputy about standardisation. I have spoken to student unions and they tell me they are being asked to pay for accommodation at a spec, for want of a better word, they never sought. We need to get to standardised design. We need student accommodation as it is being built in Sligo and Athlone, County Westmeath, and the technological universities in Waterford, Carlow and other places. We need a standard approach across the country. I am concluding a piece of work with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on standardised design that will be due in quarter 1 of 2024. I think that will make a real difference in terms of the affordability and speed of rolling out new projects.
Will the Minister say when the strategy will be published? Despite being in this role for only a few months, from going around the different universities and speaking to them I think the issue of affordability stems both from the housing crisis and from the issue whereby we are seeing really high-spec accommodation people would never be able to afford. Even if you were working full time, you would not be able to afford that kind of high-spec accommodation. That comes from the for-profit model universities have to operate because of the funding gap. They obviously then have to rent it out over the summer months. As a result, it obviously impacts on students with regard to affordability.
I also have a question about the digs and money coming back. Usually for that tax credit people have to be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. As most of those digs obviously are not, what is the exact story there and how would that work?
The short answer is that for the digs you do not. We had this issue last year too. I plan to publish a new student accommodation strategy by the end of the year. I prioritised trying to move on the legacy projects that had planning permission but that had stalled for economic reasons. I think on balance that was the right call. Those were priorities one, two and three. We will have a new strategy towards the end of the year.
We need to get to a situation where we have more college-owned affordable accommodation, built to meet the needs of students and no more than that. As we increase core funding into our universities, which we are, I hope the point made by the Deputy about being reliant on income as in the past, becomes less relevant. I want to get to a position where we have a standardised design approach, as we see with other public buildings, where student accommodation looks like one of two or three options. That speeds up the planning and design process, helps with affordability, and makes sure we are building stuff students want and can afford. We will have that piece of work concluded in quarter 1 of 2024.
