Victor Boyhan: Calls for Free Student Meals Pilot and Housing Action

Thank you Seanad Éireann, and now Seanad Éireann Báile. That's a really exciting space, and there are real opportunities within that space for that great synergy of private investment, private funds, tied up to pay back to universities. That link that you don't stop, the university isn't about learning, but it's about evolving innovation and research, so I would really welcome that. Minister, I suppose at the very outset I want to thank you for publishing the National Student Accommodation Strategy for 2026 to 2035, and I think it's a very exciting space, it's a very exciting document, it's early stages yet, there are a number of follow-ons to that which I'll touch on in a moment, but I think it is worth pointing out some of the problems, because people were practitioners, were politicians, were involved in policy formation, but I wouldn't like people who were looking in here to think somehow we were tone deaf to the real issues and challenges facing third levels, facing all students, but third level students. And you know I'm aware, as you are aware, that student accommodation crisis is now a major barrier for some to access higher education, primarily driven by the severe supply of shortage of accommodation, and that of course is tied in with exorbitant rents and precarious living conditions. So that's a real issue and a challenge. These challenges directly lead to financial stress, extremely daily commutes, poor academic and mental health outcomes for many students. These are not easy times for students. The issue around the purpose-built student accommodation is important and it's exciting, but there are many students, needn't myself, people did manage to facilitate them in small or non-purpose built, there's room for the private sector for accommodation too, but it has to be based on good quality standards. There is of course intense competition for the limited accommodation on campus, we see that around us, but I think of Trinity College, an example, I went to visit last week in Trinity Hall in Dartree, that's an amazing campus, in the summer it's used for other things, so it is, I won't say it's self-financing, but this space isn't empty, this accommodation is used for other education and leisure and other activities and conferences, so that's an important model to look at. Campus housing is full, many students are forced to rely on substandard accommodation in the private sector, I know that's an issue that you are committed to tackling, along with Minister James Brown, and I want to acknowledge that, but there are low levels of availability for accommodation and they are challenges. I spoke to someone last week about the long-distance commuting, there are people commuting from Galway to UCD here on a daily basis, I mean that's tough going, getting student buses coming up, the long times, hours hanging around on the campus, they have to feed themselves, there's a lot of challenges, there's a lot of difficulties there, and due to a lack of housing options, this is really a bit of a problem. The rising living costs, Minister, we all know about rising living costs, but particularly for students, I know students that effectively are telling me they're eating baguettes, chicken filled baguettes for their lunch, I'm going to ask you something Minister Simple, will you consider piloting a free main meal school for third level students who wish it? I think we should pilot it, I don't suggest we provide free food for all, we can't do it initially, but I'd like if you would consider identifying some third level education establishments where you could pilot a free main one hot meal a day as an option for people, and that clearly would have to be piloted, it would clearly have to be assessed, but I'm making that ask of you today because students are making it of me, they are saying we are literally living out of takeaways, the food isn't good, we're trying to learn, we're meant to be at a peak, at an optimum, and we're not even getting the nutrition that we require, and I think in the context of the rising living costs and the challenges around that, the challenges that some have to go west of Ireland and up every day or every second day, food is, we all need food, we all need rest, we all need decent accommodation to put our heads down and recharge ourselves, so I think the impact on food and nutrition is really important for the lives of students, I also think the impact of health and mental health is really important, and we're now talking about students that are falling out of university, I want to praise and acknowledge some work that I'm aware of going on in UCD where students have literally had to opt out, but there are implications for opting out of courses in terms of grants and funding, but UCD are running schemes, they're giving people a year out, but they're not giving a year out to do nothing, to tie into other ways of learning and just take time out and just to pause, and giving them the opportunity to get back on the moving academic bus that they're on, so I think that's important. The exorbitant rents are of course a major challenge, we know about the high demands in Dublin, Cork, Galway, indeed in Limerick, so I think that's a problem, we now find students unable to immerse themselves in the life of college life, which is all about formation, it's more than academia, so sport is critically important, personal development, relationship building, mental health, all of the participation, volunteering, all these critical parts of our development, particularly as young people, and they're missing out on that, and I think it's an area we don't want to miss. Many students of course have no options, but to live in really overcrowded accommodation, sharing single rooms, many times with multiples of people, morning, noon, and night, that they simply do not know, we have, I've been told there's six and seven people in a bedsitter in Rat 9s, they don't want to say anything, they don't want to complain, they just want to get through their career, so I think that's important. So students are also reporting the sub-par living conditions, including the lack of heating, any heating, sorry, any heat, no access to the internet, and no cooking facilities, and that also ties in with my suggestion for the pilot for food. Mental health and anxiety issues are serious, and they need to be addressed, and they need to be targeted, and of course we can do that by on-campus support for them, and availability or off-campus, it's optional, and I think we have to give options there. So, you know, at the end of the day, many students are feeling insecure, they're feeling under pressure, they do not have the accommodation to meet their needs, and the easy option is either to continue on, or try and struggle to continue on with their academic work, and have a full-time job. I'm now told that there are many students who are in full-time employment, and they're balancing night hours and early hours, and they're a student, so they're trying to be a full-time student, and a full-time employee, and they don't tell their employee of these sets of circumstances. They are worn ragged, and they're under fierce pressure, and not everyone survives many cracks, so I think that's a problem. So, students living in casual rental room situations carry with it enormous risk, and we have heard of other cases of students being put under pressure, there's anecdotal suggestions of prostitution in lieu of rent, it's been raised in this house, it's been raised in the lower house, it's been raised in the committees. These are the sort of challenges that students are facing. So Minister, in finishing up, I want to acknowledge and thank you for your National Students Accommodation Strategy, but it has to be more than just physical accommodation, it has to meet the holistic needs of students in university, and it's not all university, there are third level institutions, there are apprenticeships, all forms of learning and support, but where you have to come to the big towns and the big cities, and you don't have accommodation, it's going to cost you, and many people are backing off. I finally suggest, and I leave it to this Minister, in your proposal you have an implementation action plan for your strategy, and you've yet to establish the implementation strategy, you're going to put in place mechanisms, maybe you might keep the House informed of that, but this is an excellent document, it's only recently been published. It's a pathway for a very clear intention that you have driven, and personally taken great interest, so I commend you and your Minister for State in relation to this strategy and wish you well. Thank you.