Government must build student accommodation, not cut campus life
Government must build student accommodation, not cut campus life - The Labour Party
- Students deserve a full education, not a reduced timetable
Labour’s further and higher education spokesperson Senator Laura Harmon has criticised proposals to ask third level institutions to examine reducing the number of days students must be on campus to ease pressure on accommodation and commuting, saying this amounts to an admission of failure by Government.
Senator Harmon said:
“The suggestion that colleges should reduce the number of days students are required on campus is a staggering admission that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have failed to get a grip on the student accommodation crisis. Instead of building the actual accommodation that is desperately needed, Government now appears to be considering cutting back the student experience. That is not a solution. It is a deflection.
“Students are already at the sharp end of the housing crisis. They scramble for overpriced rooms, endure long and exhausting commutes, or face the real prospect of deferring their education altogether. If students are travelling for hours each day because they cannot secure accommodation near their college, that is the fault of Government policy. It is not the fault of the student.
“We should not curtail campus life because Government cannot fix a housing crisis of its own making. The value of third level education is not confined to lectures alone. It includes participation in campus life, access to libraries and labs, engagement with clubs and societies, and the chance to build networks and friendships. Reducing on campus days risks hollowing out that experience and deepening inequality between those who can afford to live near college and those who cannot.
“If this is the direction of travel in the new student accommodation strategy, it does not inspire confidence. We need ambition and delivery, not a quiet scaling back of expectations. The State must step in directly. Institutes of technology should be empowered and funded to develop affordable, publicly owned student housing. We cannot continue to rely on an overheated private market that prices students out year after year.
“Government must abandon any attempt to manage this crisis by limiting campus attendance and instead commit to a major programme of publicly built student accommodation, led by the State and delivered in partnership with our higher education institutions. Students deserve a full education, not a reduced timetable because Government have consistently failed to plan. It is time to stop shifting the burden onto young people and start delivering the homes they need to learn, live and thrive.”