Vol. 511 No. 3
402 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Education and Science the plans, if any, he has to increase third level student maintenance grants to meet the increased costs of accommodation in university and third level towns. [24573/99]
I am aware that students in many parts of the country are experiencing particular difficulties in finding good affordable accommodation. An across-the-board major increase in grants is clearly not the appropriate response. Rather the core issue is a need to increase the availability of dedicated student housing and the resultant release of pressure from the rented sector.
The provision of on-campus accommodation is on going in the third level sector. On-campus accommodation for seven hundred students is expected to be completed well in advance of the next academic year at the Galway campus of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology while approval for on-campus accommodation in respect of 450 bed spaces has been sanctioned by the University of Limerick. A number of developers have made initial inquiries or submitted applications to educational institutions in respect of developments which are within 8km of the eligible institutions and to date four such applications have received approval. With the advent of such developments additional student accommodation will become available over the next number of years.
