Third Level Costs
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

As the Deputy knows, the student supports I introduced in the most recent budget targeted, in particular, those students who have to travel extra distances. They are categorised as being "non-adjacent". All four bands of non-adjacent maintenance grants were increased by between €200 and €400 to reflect the additional costs for those commuting those distances.
The Deputy mentioned accommodation, and rightly so. I am aware it is a key concern for most students. As the Deputy knows, I published the student accommodation strategy recently. It is building up steam. There have been almost 3,000 new commencements since it was introduced only a month or six weeks ago. I visited Whitebox Student Campus in Limerick where a site of approximately 1,200 to 1,400 beds is getting ready to move forward. That site used my new student accommodation design template. The fruits are already beginning to bear, but I am conscious it will take time to build those sites out, secure planning and move through the process. We are up and running with that now.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-12