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Government announces plans for 21,000 additional student beds by 2024

The Government has launched its new plan for student accommodation. The new strategy aims to deli...
Newstalk
Newstalk

15.46 20 Jul 2017


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Government announces plans for...

Government announces plans for 21,000 additional student beds by 2024

Newstalk
Newstalk

15.46 20 Jul 2017


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The Government has launched its new plan for student accommodation.

The new strategy aims to deliver an extra 21,000 beds by 2024.

Last year, it was estimated that a further 26,000 student accommodation beds were needed to meet demand.

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Since then, a number of student accommodation complexes have opened - though some are billed as luxury accommodation and are out of the price range of most students

The new plan aims to provide a range of affordable housing for students, and Higher Education Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor insisted there needs to be a mix.

She said: "That's the whole point of purpose built student accommodation - to make it affordable, and that it is appropriate for students that are attending college.

“Nearly 2,500 students were housed in digs accommodation as a direct result of the USI [Union of Students in Ireland] campaign in 2016. We have set a new target to increase the number of students in digs accommodation by 60% to 4,000 per annum by 2019," she added.

Education Minister Richard Bruton stressed that there needs to be a sustainable model.

He observed: "I don't think I have to tell anyone that we've had a huge accommodation crisis in Ireland over the last number of years.

"[This new plan is] an ambitious strategy [...] In the next two years - to 2019 - the target is 7,000 [beds] - and we believe that with the decisions already made we will exceed that."

The USI, meanwhile, are calling for people to open their homes to students and rent out a room.

USI President Michael Kerrigan believes it can be a stopgap solution for many students who find themselves in a difficult situation.

He argued: "A lot of students might think it's not the ideal scenario to be sharing a house with a family or an elderly person. But for a lot of students, it's a lot better than staying in hostels, staying on friends' couches, staying on floors."

Reporting by Sean Defoe and Stephen McNeice


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