A report issued this morning shows that the commercial property vacancy rate is at its highest level in ten years.

There are something like 30,000 vacant commercial units across the length and breadth of the country. Here in the city I understand there are 19 office blocks, eight of which are brand new, that have not been occupied and are lying vacant. This is in addition to a further 15 in suburbs of the city. This is at a time when the housing situation is at its highest point and surely it would make sense for an audit of these properties to be done with a view to reconfiguring those properties for residential use, such as student accommodation.

We currently have approximately 200,000 third level students in our system with a projection of potentially another 50,000 by the end of this decade. All of those students need accommodation. As many parents know, especially those from the country, the task of trying to find or locate a property in this city and indeed other cities for students come college time is a huge task. Finding one is one task and being able to afford the rent is another. We should do an audit of these properties with a view to reconfiguring them for student accommodation. All the services are there and they are well located. I ask the Leader to organise a debate with the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Harris, so we can discuss this issue and perhaps carry out an audit with a view to bringing these properties back into use for residential purposes.

I rise today to highlight the fact that Explore Engineering will take place at Shannon Airport on Thursday, 7 March from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. It is a collaboration between industry, the ETB and the chambers of commerce. More than 60 different engineering companies will come forward to show exactlt what they do. It is about encouraging students, especially, who wish to study engineering and showing them the different types of jobs available and what exactly they would be doing. It will encourage people to study engineering. It is also covered by Tús and the University of Limerick. They are very involved in it as well. It is mainly run by the chambers of commerce and the education and training board, ETB. It is really important because it is of benefit to students, their parents and their teachers and is about encouraging them to come forward and go for engineering roles. We all understand that engineering is a key part of any community.