Budget must address escalating student accommodation crisis
Labour spokesperson on Further and Higher Education, Senator Annie Hoey has today (Monday 5th September) said that the escalating student accommodation crisis and the soaring cost-of-living for students must be addressed in Budget 2023.
Speaking following the publication of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) pre-budget submission, Senator Hoey said:
“The student accommodation crisis is as bad as ever. Many students are facing a year of torturous commutes as there is simply not enough space for people to live near campus. We support the USI calls for legislation to protect students in ‘digs’ accommodation and for colleges to build strictly affordable student accommodation. The absolute lack of affordable student accommodation is unacceptable and the reality is that now many students are forced to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table.”
“Over the last number of budgets, the Labour Party has put forward a costed plan to reduce the €3,000 student contribution charge towards eventually scrapping it, but only now are we possibly seeing some action from the Minister. Despite the Minister’s planned reduction, our students will still have some of the highest fees in the EU. We need to move quickly to a publicly funded model of higher education as outlined in the Cassells report. A well-educated workforce is critical to our future economic growth, and further education should be accessible to all students.”