I listened really intently to what the Tánaiste had to say about student accommodation. I also listened to what the Taoiseach said in recent days. He said he was going to keep a close eye on the matter but that there were limits on what Government could do. That tells me, students and their struggling families that the Tánaiste and the Government are completely out of touch with where things are. The Technological University Dublin report estimated that the cost for students who need accommodation is €14,000 a year. That is for one student. Families who have two or three students at third level do not have a hope in hell. We talk about the cost of living. For these students and their families, this is the cost of surviving. Will the Tánaiste now accept that the unaffordability and unavailability of student housing is an absolute emergency? That is what this Government does not get; this is an emergency. We know with certainty how much student accommodation is going to be needed in 20 years' time for babies born today. We know what the percentages involved are. It is completely predictable. Will the Tánaiste commit to funding purpose-built student accommodation? Will he end the conversion of purpose-built student accommodation into tourist accommodation, as I have been asking for months? The year 2022 will be too late.

I thank the Deputy. The Government absolutely acknowledges that we have a severe shortage of student accommodation across the country and that for very many students it is unaffordable while for others it is unavailable. There are many reasons for that. Some are long-standing, some relate to Covid and some relate to the big increase in the number of people attending third level education, which we all welcome. We have a student accommodation strategy that includes measures that have been implemented already such as caps on rent increases and a ban on accommodation providers charging very large lump sums but what is fundamentally required - and I agree with the Deputy on this - is the building of more purpose-built student accommodation on and near campuses. We are giving the universities and technological universities the authority to borrow to do that on a cost-rental basis. However, as the Taoiseach acknowledged, that will take some time.