Asking colleges to condense student hours to cut the number of on campus days is an “admission of failure”, the Labour Party has argued. 

As third-level students struggle to find accommodation across the country, many have resorted to commuting long distances instead. 

The Government hopes to build some 42,000 additional student beds over the next decades. 

However, in the meantime, it plans to ask colleges to make course hours “more efficient”, allowing students to spend fewer days on campus. 

On The Claire Byrne Show, Labour Senator and former USI President Laura Harmon said she had “never heard the likes of this before” and described it as an “admission of failure” on student accommodation. 

 “Asking the colleges to curtail the student experience is not the answer here,” she argued. 

“In reality, the college experience is about much more than just going to class; it is about access to the library, many students might not have that quiet place to study, access to technologies that they wouldn't have at home, access to student societies, sports. 

“And of course, building networks and meeting people. 

“I mean, at the end of the day, that is all part of the experience in broadening your mind.”

University College, Galway. Picture by: The Irish Image Collection/Design Pics via ZUMA Wire.

Senator Harmon added there was a shortage of student housing during her time as USI President more than a decade ago, making the current crisis both “predictable and preventable”. 

“It's a symptom of the wider housing crisis,” she added. 

“Ultimately, what we need to do is we need to build more purposeful student accommodation in our towns and cities across the country, more publicly owned student accommodation.”

'Praised by economists'

Also on the programme, Fianna Fáil TD and Oireachtas Education Committee Cathaoirleach Cathal Crowe said the Government wants to do everything possible to make student life easier. 

“Rationalising the timetable makes sense in so many educational environments - that's a good thing,” he said. 

“There's a recognition in Government that those who are non-adjacent to campus - i.e. living further away, need more support.

“And in the last Budget, we've seen an increase in grants, the thresholds have gone up, so more people are qualifying [and] the fees have gone down.”

The Clare TD added that the Government is alert to the student accommodation crisis but that it is an expensive problem to fix. 

“The reality is, at the moment, to build a student accommodation, a 400-bed block, costs in the region of €100 million and they're not being built,” she said. 

“So, we've reduced the VAT on that, we've been praised by economists for getting that going, rationalising timetables in colleges works.”

Main image: Students at Trinity College, Dublin. Picture by: Mark Henderson / Alamy.