Student Accommodation
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
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James Lawless (FF), Kildare North

I have ongoing engagement with the Minister for housing and we have had a very structured and productive engagement, which led to the student exemption and the protection window of three years being imposed in the new rental protection Acts. I hear the issue that the Deputy raises. I have written directly to one or two institutions where I was made aware of this practice. I advised them that I did not feel this was in the spirit of the law, while within the letter of the law. It certainly is not within the spirit of the law. I made my views very clear on that. The Deputy will understand that there is a limit to the powers I exercise here. They are independent entities. There is legislation in place to govern it but we have a dedicated stand-alone agency, which is the RTB, to investigate any breaches of the laws. Where there are situations that come to the Deputy's attention, or to any student's attention, I strongly encourage them to make a report to the RTB and they could be investigated accordingly.

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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