Student Accommodation
Dail Éireann — 2025-12-11
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Carol Nolan (IND), Offaly

I acknowledge that there have been some improvements but again, it is just not enough. We need to be, as I said, far more ambitious and deliver more student accommodation. I want to point out that my concerns relate to the fact that when a young person from a rural background concludes that third level education is financially or logistically unfeasible, the loss extends far beyond the individual. Society is deprived of the nurses, engineers, teachers and researchers that we so badly need in Ireland. Therefore, I ask the Minister to address the following specific points in his response to me. What immediate supports or emergency measures is the Department implementing in this academic year for students who are currently sofa surfing or living in unaffordable private rentals? Will the Government now give serious consideration to the introduction of rent controls or caps specifically for purpose-built accommodation? Is the Minister prepared to commit to a ring-fenced, State-led programme of student bed construction? Will he bring forward, as a matter of urgency, an inflation-adjusted increase in the SUSI maintenance grant and a substantial reform and expansion of the rent a room relief scheme?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-12-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-11