I do not know if the Taoiseach heard the voices of the thousands of students who last Thursday took part in a walk-out protest against the Government's failure to tackle the student accommodation crisis. I do not know if he heard their experiences of the impossibility of finding any accommodation, the real pressure of this cost-of-living crisis, impossible and crazy commutes for so many students and a feeling they are not getting the full educational experience they are entitled to. Last Thursday, students stood up not just for themselves but for the future of education in Ireland. They walked out to stand up, and fair play to them. On their behalf, I ask the Taoiseach when the Government will respond to this crisis, what it proposes to do and how it will invest in college accommodation, in particular, college-owned beds. The plans are there and what has been lacking so far have been the resources and political will.

We have taken significant measures to help students in the budget, not least the €1,000 reduction in fees this year and a further €500 reduction in the next academic year. There is also the renter's credit that parents who pay rent for students will be in a position to avail of. Those are significant measures. There is also the additional payment under the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant, which is very helpful in the current inflationary cycle we find ourselves in.

As for student accommodation, it is symptomatic of the wider housing issue in that it is about viability. Many colleges and developers, as they get together with land, are saying it is not viable to build apartments and rent them to students at affordable rates, so the State is being asked to enter that scene also.

Go raibh maith agat.

The State is doing so and discussions are under way between the Department, representing the Government, and universities in respect of how to get more student accommodation in place.