Minister Lawless sees students and their families as cash cows
Minister Lawless sees students and their families as cash cows - The Labour Party
- Minister must side with students not developers
- State must not pass costs onto students and families for new student accommodation builds
Labour spokesperson for further and higher education Senator Laura Harmon has called out Minister James Lawless for failing to step up for students and their families.
Speaking today, Senator Harmon said:
“The Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless must protect students from rent hikes under any new student
accommodation strategy.
“It is worrying to hear that multiple rent hikes are on the table for students under RPZ rules. This is the same Minister who has hiked up student fees by €500 annually. Students and their families cannot bear the brunt of price hikes when they are already getting it from all angles.
“The cost of living is high and student poverty is real, with 28% of UCC students reporting going to class hungry last year. Students cannot be seen as cash cows, but Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are failing them and their families.
“The State must play a larger role in building more publicly owned student accommodation and work with colleges and allow the technological university sector to borrow to build their own accommodation. There should be a stronger emphasis on the building of publicly owned accommodation for students with affordable rents over private accommodation. The market will not fix the student accommodation crisis and the Minister must take responsibility for it himself and look out for students and families.
“The President of Munster Technology University said recently that housing is the biggest barrier to education in Ireland when she addressed the Further and Higher Education Oireachtas committee. Any rent increased for students will make this issue worse.
“I have to ask if Minister James Lawless cares about students at all? He has already increased fees by €500 this year despite a commitment in the Programme for Government to reduce fees.
“We in Labour called out both the Minister for Housing, James Browne and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, James Lawless for their failure to insert protections for students from rent hikes in the RPZ legislation.
“Prioritising the private market over the actual day to day experience of people’s lives has become a hallmark of this Government.”