That concludes Question Time. Before moving to Leader's Questions, I am conscious this is our last sitting of the term. We can be reasonably satisfied with the work transacted during the term. We had 68 sittings and, between the Dáil and the Seanad, 79 Bills have been published - 58 in the Dáil and 21 in the Seanad. By the time the Seanad rises, we will have enacted 23 Bills. On behalf of the Members, I extend our thanks to the Secretary General and the members of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service in the House for their unfailing support and assistance to us all throughout the year. I thank the members of the press corps as well for their assiduous reporting on most of the things that transpire here.

I wish everyone a good summer. We have certainly been having it up to now. I recommend that Members try to find some downtime for themselves in the summer period.

Hear, hear.

The cynics out there believe we are embarking on a two month holiday. Those of us who live the life know the situation is quite different and to find time for oneself and one's family can be difficult, so please do attend to that. I call Deputy Dara Calleary.

On behalf of my party, I join the Ceann Comhairle in thanking every member of the staff here for their assistance during the past term. A number of members of staff are retiring during the recess. I wish them health and happiness and thank them for their service. I thank the Ceann Comhairle, and the acting chairmen, for their infinite patience which is tested everyday. I wish colleagues a productive recess and hope they all take a little holiday during the recess, and particularly for the benefit of our colleagues - who may not be with us at the moment - in the Press Gallery.

Back to real business and the housing and homelessness crisis is continuing apace. There are 6,000 adults and more than 3,500 children in emergency accommodation. Those figures are not changing. The cost of rent has never been as high, despite the introduction of rent pressure zones, RPZs. We all know the problems and challenges this causes people daily. It is having a particular impact on the provision of student accommodation. The Government today published a report outlining what it calls "progress" in providing student accommodation. The report states there are 18,600 bed spaces in various forms of planning and that by the end of this year 5,500 of those will be completed. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, described that as a healthy pipeline of student projects.

Once again, the Government is patting itself on the back while wilfully ignorant of the reality on the ground. Much of this accommodation is being built privately and rented out at exorbitant rates. Many people are having to make a choice between cancelling their place in college, turning it down or leaving college, because they cannot afford accommodation. Ms Síona Cahill, the president of the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, said today that international students are being targeted by colleges, which see them, to use her phrase, as "cash cows". For students who come from middle or modest class backgrounds, those rents of €1,000 or €1,400 a month are exorbitant and out of reach. That is the average going rate for student accommodation.

Families cannot afford that. That is not affordable for a working person, never mind a student. On the northside of Dublin city, students are faced with a 30% increase in rental costs for next year. We are all aware of the case of Shanowen in Santry where students will be hit with a 50% increase in rent, which follows a 30% increase last year. The same is happening in Cúirt na Coirbe in the National University of Ireland Galway, NUIG, and throughout the country. The Government can act and take measures now which do not need all of us to be sitting. Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin have provided a Bill and a pathway for the Government to take those measures and reduce the accommodation and rental burden on students and their families.

Why does Government not introduce amendments to the RPZs? Why does the Government not ensure student accommodation, such as Shanowen and Cúirt na Coirbe, is deemed under licence so that the tenants within them are treated in the same way as regular tenants and leases? What is the Government's plan to deal with the crisis facing student renters?

I join the Ceann Comhairle and the Deputy in wishing everybody a good time off this summer. This has been a busy political period and politics will continue through the summer months. It is important though that people take time off with their families to recharge mentally and physically from the pressures of this job. I also thank everybody working in and linked to this House, and in particular those who are retiring. The relationship between the Members and those who work here is a good one and that needs to be recognised before we break for the summer. I expect we will have a particularly busy term when we come back, so recharging is in the country's interest as well as our own.

On the serious issue of student accommodation, as the Deputy mentioned, the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Damien English, released the end of quarter two progress report on the national student accommodation strategy. That strategy complements the initiatives being taken by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to increase housing supply under Rebuilding Ireland. The national student accommodation strategy includes eight key targets and 27 actions to support the delivery of increased levels of supply, which is the key problem. The target set out in that strategy is the provision of 7,000 bed spaces by the end of next year and a total of 21,000 additional purpose built bed spaces by 2024. We remain on track to achieve, if not exceed, that number.

I am very much aware of the pressures many students face, particularly in trying to find accommodation in Dublin. Some existing student accommodation does come under RPZ legislation but much of the purpose-built student accommodation does not. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government and his Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, have made it clear they are looking at ways we can ensure students are not being ripped off. At the same time, however, we need to ensure supply increases because, ultimately, a dramatic increase in the supply of student accommodation provision is what will address this issue in the medium term. We are focusing on supply increases and it is working. As of the end of quarter two of 2018, 2,990 purpose-built bed spaces have been completed, more than 7,000 were under construction, more than 7,000 more had planning permission granted and in excess of 1,200 were at a planning application stage. We are seeing Ireland move from dramatic under provision of purpose-built student accommodation to catching up rapidly. That is taking place and the figures show it.

A fortune is being made out of it.

There has been a dramatic increase in rents as well.

Here we are again with loads of targets and promises. The Tánaiste is the king of this.

They are targets.

The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government promised last year that there would not be any emergency accommodation. It is still happening. The same is going to happen with student housing. The Tánaiste is promising everything but in September and October, students and their families will be faced with a bill every month of €1,400 or €1,500. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2018 was promised this session but it has not been introduced. He can utter all the words he wants, all the promises he wants, lay out all the action plans he wants and issue all the self-congratulatory reports he wants but come September and October, what will he say to students, their parents and their families who will be faced with paying €1,400 every month for student accommodation?

There is no sense in telling people to turn down a place at a university or third level institution or to turn down the opportunity of education because an apartment will be available for them next year. Next year may be too late for them. The Tánaiste could take action now to recognise the urgency of the situation and to say to those providing student accommodation that students are not cash cows. The places the Tánaiste has mentioned are being provided by private operators at exorbitant, profitable rates. They are making profits on the backs of Irish students while the Governments stands back and talks about it.

There is no self-congratulation going on here. This is about trying to make things happen. We are providing factual information about what is happening. One of the features of this Government is that it sets targets regularly.

The Government does not meet those targets.

On student accommodation we are actually exceeding those targets. Students are not feeling the benefit as a result of that yet; that is true. In the interim we are talking about encouraging more digs-type accommodation, promoting rent a room schemes etc. The practicality of this means that it will take time to build significant numbers of student accommodation. That is underway. Almost 3,000 student rooms have been completed, some 7,000 are under construction, another 7,000 have planning permission and over 1,200 are in the planning system.

What about the rent being charged?

In Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway we are seeing-----

Rent for those rooms can be €1,400 a month.

-----a significant increase in the delivery of supply and in the short term, recognising the reality that there are still pressures, we need short-term solutions. The Government also wants to ensure that students are not being ripped off in terms of the accommodation that is available and is looking at ways of preventing that.