Rose Conway-Walsh criticises housing plan for leaving students behind
Rose Conway-Walsh criticised the government's housing plan as inadequate, saying it will not deliver housing for all and fails to address the student accommodation crisis. She backed calls for 100% redress for households opting for the outer layer and demanded urgent action for students and low-income families.
Support for redress and Ballina demonstrators
She echoed Deputy McLaughlin's call for 100% redress guarantees for households that choose the outer layer option and commended people who gathered in Ballina to demonstrate, expressing hope they will get their lives back soon.
Student accommodation crisis and financial strain
She said the plan contains nothing of substance for students and described accommodation as the biggest barrier for many working students and families on low and medium incomes. She noted students face hostel and hotel living and some are sleeping on floors, and criticised a Taoiseach comment about monitoring third-level rents as bewildering to those affected.
Claims on fees and on-campus places
She highlighted that despite high college fees, on-campus supply has not kept pace: since 2017 only 679 on-campus student accommodation places have been added. She argued rising student numbers and a growing share of places allocated to high‑fee international students mean more domestic students compete for fewer on-campus beds.
Response to government initiatives
She welcomed the technological universities initiative but said it is insufficient on its own. She accused the Minister for Housing of effectively admitting there is no short-term plan to tackle the student accommodation emergency and urged immediate measures to address the crisis.
Call for immediate action on students
Conway-Walsh concluded that the housing plan leaves students behind and reiterated her request that the Minister address the crisis and the emergency that students and struggling families are facing now.
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I'm sharing with Deputy Gould, and so as at the outset, Minister, I want to support what my colleague, Deputy McLaughlin, has said in relation to the 100% redress and indeed the guarantee that's needed there, particularly for the households who opt for the outer layer option. And I want to commend all of the people who gathered in Ballina on Sunday to demonstrate again, and I hope that these people are going to get their lives back very soon. But Minister, this plan will not deliver housing for all, apart from the many weaknesses and shortcomings highlighted by my colleagues and other members of the Opposition. The plan has nothing of substance to say in relation to students and the accommodation crisis that they're facing. Despite having the highest college fees in the EU, accommodation is the biggest barrier for many working students and families on low and medium incomes. This particularly disadvantages students from rural areas, families are running themselves into financial ruin just to educate their children, that's if they can even afford to send them to college. There's a real anger out there among students that they have heard, when they heard the Taoiseach saying he would keep a close eye on third level colleges to make sure they don't charge exorbitant rents. That's a bewildering comment for students who are in this situation. They've heard you, Minister for Housing, essentially admit that you have no plan to address the crisis in student accommodation in the short term, Minister. These are for all of the students who are in hostels, in hotel rooms, who are sleeping on floors as we speak. Your housing plan states that universities have developed a significant number of student accommodation in recent years. Another statement that's divorced from reality. Another statement that shows just how out of touch this government is. Since 2017, the year the student accommodation strategy was published, only 679 on-campus student accommodation places have been added. With the increase in student numbers and the ever-increasing share of student accommodation going to attract high-fee international students, the reality is that more students are competing for comparatively less on-campus beds. The only other initiative for this policy is around the technological universities, and certainly I welcome that and support it. Minister, you've left students behind in the housing plan, and I really ask you to address the crisis and the emergency that's there at the moment.
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