The student accommodation crisis has become something of a permanent issue for students who are trying to access third level education in this State. The Union of Students in Ireland, USI, has said that the situation is the worst it has ever been. Students in Galway are sleeping in tents and are protesting not just at the deficit in accommodation, but also at the absolute absence of student accommodation in this State. Last September, representatives of USI were outside the gates of this House, protesting at the fact that thousands of students had been left without a place to live at the start of the new academic year. At the beginning of this September, the chaplain of the new Technological University of the Shannon said he understood that the number of beds available to students in Athlone this year had fallen by 500 because of the unprecedented number of international protection applicants who have been housed in this region. Perhaps the kindest thing we can say about all this is that it is an omnishambles, which has been made worse and prolonged as a direct result of Government policy and the failure to act quickly enough when it became clear that private and institutional on-campus accommodation was being gobbled up to meet the demands of what the Minister for housing has described as "our international obligations".

I wish to focus on another element of this crisis. We are now confronted with a very real danger that access to third level education will again become the preserve of the wealthy and those fortunate enough to have very high incomes. This is what is happening. With rent levels now routinely approaching €1,000 per month, it is next to impossible for the majority of students to afford this without incurring substantial debt or deferring indefinitely. Even those on the highest rate of Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grants cannot afford such rates. This is not only tragic but ironic, given that it was the admirable actions of statesmen like Donogh O'Malley which proved instrumental in opening our education system to those who had been excluded because of a lack of means. Over 50 years ago and under one Fianna Fáil Minister, access to education became a right. Under the current Fianna Fáil Minister for housing and the Taoiseach's Government, this may yet regress to become a privilege. It does not make any difference if this is not the Taoiseach's intention. It is the result of the Government's policies, which are plain to see.

I accept that the Minister, Deputy Harris, has secured a reduction in costs in the budget but all of those benefits will remain purely theoretical - or, I might even say, academic - if getting to college goes the same way as home ownership more generally, which is a fading dream for an entire generation. Will the Taoiseach commit to re-establishing the education disadvantage committee, which did great work and which can become a forum to tackle this issue and the barriers to third level education?

First of all, I would say that the situation is challenging in respect of student accommodation. It is reflective of the wider issues in terms of housing supply and new construction, and also viability issues in terms of land that universities own but are not in a position to develop with developers on the basis of what they believe is a viability gap between the cost of that student accommodation if it was to be built and what students could realistically be prepared to pay. The Minister has met with the presidents and chairs of all the traditional universities and the technological universities to discuss any immediate proposals they may have identified for additional student accommodation provision in the short to medium term. The Department is continuing to work with them in that regard. That said, the University of Galway was in a position this academic year to provide an additional 670 bed spaces which will come on stream not immediately but later this year.

There is an issue of viability in terms of the cost of building which is somewhat similar to what we had to do with the Croí Cónaithe scheme. We introduced the Croí Cónaithe scheme to deal with the viability gap in brownfield sites in built-up dense areas of inner cities. The market is saying it cannot build on such sites for affordable prices and the State has had to intervene to try to bridge that viability gap. The same has applied in respect of student accommodation and we are looking at mechanisms to see how we can do that.

Successive Fianna Fáil Ministers, include me in the late 1990s and early 2000s, took measures that have resulted in very high participation rates in third level education in Ireland. Ireland enjoys one of the highest participation rates in third level education in Europe. That said, I accept that accommodation and its cost is the big problem for students.

This year the Ministers, Deputy Harris and Michael McGrath, brought in a range of measures in the budget to support students, not least the reduction of fees by €1,000. The SUSI grant of €17.4 million will allow a once-off extra payment, equivalent to one month's maintenance, to be made to all student maintenance grant recipients by December. A once-off increase of €1,000 will support postgraduate students who meet the eligibility criteria for a postgraduate fee contribution grant. That grant will now go up to €4,500. Some €8 million is being put into the student assistance fund. A once-off payment of €500 is being made in 2022 to PhD students who receive an Irish Research Council or Science Foundation Ireland award. The Minister has taken a range of other measures to offer relief to students in 2023-24 and make things a bit more manageable for them during what is a very difficult period with the energy situation. We have brought in the rent credit of €1,000. It will be of value of €1,000 to renters, €500 in 2022 and €500 in 2023. Student accommodation is capped under the rent pressure zones.

I acknowledged the measures that were brought in to alleviate the pressures. However, it is not enough. This crisis has been years in the making. We have all met USI representatives. We have all met college and university representatives, who have told us about this and said quite clearly that this crisis would become worse.

I would like to know if the Taoiseach will answer the question. This is a real barrier for students now and it will deter many students from going to college. Unfortunately, college and third level education will become a preserve of the wealthy if action is not taken on this issue. I ask the Taoiseach if his Government will reinstate the education disadvantage committee to try to focus on this issue and deal quickly with it.

The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is talking about meeting "international obligations" but he also needs to focus on meeting the needs of our student population. We have tens of thousands of students without accommodation. That is the reality. Unfortunately, that is the fact of the matter. I am getting calls every day of the week from students all over the country who cannot source accommodation.

When the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, talks about international obligations, he is talking about the need for the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, for example, to procure a lot of hotel accommodation for those fleeing war. We should not juxtapose people fleeing a terrible war with the student accommodation crisis. Many students would support the Government's approach in supporting refugees fleeing a terrible war. We need analysis. I do not believe that this will allow or facilitate third level education becoming the preserve of the rich. I do accept, however, that we need to take urgent measures - it will take time to get new blocks built - to bridge the viability gap between what universities say they can realistically construct in purpose-built student accommodation and what they could subsequently rent out to students at affordable prices. At the moment that gap is far too wide. Now they are asking the State to intervene to try to bridge that gap. The State is becoming, if you like, the house provider of last resort in a lot of situations in the current housing market, but we are looking at that very seriously.