Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 January 2026
466. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science his plans to reduce on campus rents and make student accommodation affordable for more students. [7276/26]
View answerAs Minister, I recognise that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are autonomous under the Universities Act 1997, the Technological Universities Act 2018, and the Institutes of Technology Acts 1992 to 2006. They are academically independent and are entitled to manage their own affairs, including setting rent levels in HEI-owned accommodation. This means that I do not have direct control over on-campus rents. I welcome the extensive engagement Minister Browne and his Department had with relevant stakeholders, including property sector representatives, as well as meeting tenant advocates during the development of the rental reforms. These reforms will provide clarity for investors in Purpose Built Student Accommodation.The Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 allows rent resetting to market rent in defined circumstances, including following tenant-initiated termination and, for new tenancies, after six years. Following my engagement with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne TD., the Bill provides that existing PBSA rents can only reset once every three years and may not reset to market prior to 2029. This position reflects a shared commitment to protecting students from steep or repeated rent increases over the coming academic cycles, recognising the shorter and more cyclical nature of student tenancies. It provides the certainty and protection for students that I have sought to secure since the announcement of these legislative changes. I expect to publish the National Student Accommodation Strategy in the coming weeks. The Strategy supports access to suitable housing for full-time students in publicly funded higher education institutions and aims to deliver additional student beds to meet projected demand by 2035, without additional recourse to the private rental market. Affordability is addressed in the strategy by focusing on direct financial supports. This includes enhanced targeting of the non-adjacent special rate student maintenance grant (SUSI) for students living 30km or more from campus. This grant will be targeted for increase in future estimates processes building on the additional €10.5m allocated in Budget 2026, assisting 30,000 students and bringing the total allocation for the non-adjacent student grant to €146.5million for the 2025/ 2026 academic year. The Strategy also supports the mainstreaming of the Student Accommodation Assistance Scheme, which is currently funded through Dormant Accounts and provides targeted support for Traveller, Roma, and care-experienced students. In 2025, 131 Student Accommodation Assistance payments were made to students in alignment with the National Access Plan, totalling over €650,000. In addition, in 2024/2025, over €16m was provided through the Student Assistance Fund to help learners with rent and related costs and over €8 million was distributed to 2,698 recipients of the 1916 bursary. These measures will directly support those most in need with the cost of rented accommodation, and are complemented by the Rent Tax Credit which is worth up to €2,000 per annum for parents supporting a child with costs of accommodation.
