Pringle: More State-funded, purpose-built accommodation needed for third-level students
- Updated: 10th July 2024
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, said adequate and affordable accommodation is out of reach for many third-level students, saying more State-funded, purpose-built and affordable student accommodation is needed.
Addressing the Dáil on Tuesday evening, Deputy Pringle said: “The private student accommodation providers, Aparto and Yugo’s attempt to force all incoming students, starting in September 2024, into 51-week tenancies is a blatant money-grab.”
Deputy Pringle said the opportunity of extending leases should be offered to the small minority of students who require summer accommodation, “rather than forcing their entire student cohort into year-long leases that the majority of students don’t require and many of which would not be able to afford.”
The deputy was speaking on the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill.
The deputy said: “Providers plan to force students into extended leases to cover the summer period, a time when students do not have access to the SUSI grant and at a cost of about €3,000 extra per student, making already inaccessible accommodation far less accessible for young people.
“This is outrageous and disproportionately affects students from rural communities who do not have the option of living from home, and many of whom may be understandably wary of renting from a private landlord, unavailable to attend house viewings at short notice or in unknown areas, or simply unable to compete with working professionals for the very few places that are available to rent, particularly in Dublin.
“It is for this reason that I support this bill and its intention to align student-specific accommodation leases with the college academic year. Students should then, as this legislation outlines, be given the option of extending their leases should they need to for college, or placement or work,” he said.
The deputy said: “Unfortunately, adequate and affordable accommodation is out of reach for many young people in this country pursuing third-level education, and this will not change if we continue to rely on private accommodation providers in the way that we currently do.
“At the beginning of this year, the Taoiseach was in Donegal visiting ATU campuses in Killybegs and Letterkenny when he spoke about his plans to increase the availability of student accommodation that would put an end to the State’s overreliance on the private market to deliver student housing.
“There is a severe lack of State-funded, purpose-built and affordable student accommodation on college campuses in this country, and I welcomed this announcement. However, when reading further into this new student accommodation policy, I was disappointed to realise that this plan will not bring about the significant and large-scale change needed to student accommodation, but instead details plans for a mere 500 student accommodation beds, in Dublin and Maynooth initially.
“This will do nothing to address the already high demand, never mind the continuously increasing demand. In the last ten years, the number of full-time students in Ireland has increased by 18%, exceeding 200,000 in the 2021/2022 academic year, and the Department of Education predicts a further rise to over 239,000 by 2031,” he said.
Deputy Pringle said: “The lack of available, affordable accommodation is an enormous issue. There simply isn’t enough and this should be the number one priority for all third-level institutions.”
