Tánaiste supports UCDSU accommodation proposal
By Roisin Guyett-Nicholson | Oct 14 2015
Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton wrote to UCD President Andrew Deeks last week to support a UCD Students' Union (UCDSU) proposal for student accommodation. Described by Burton as a “sustainable model of campus accommodation,” it calls for investment from the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).The Tánaiste’s support was welcomed by UCDSU with President Marcus O’Halloran saying “I am happy that she’s helped us out because…probably the second most senior politician in the country is on our side.”UCDSU submitted their proposal on accommodation reform on 28th September of this year, with O’Halloran stating that the aim was to “fast forward the production of it to five years instead of ten.”University management is set to meet with Eugene O’Callaghan, director of the ISIF. Managed by the National Treasury Management Agency, the ISIF was established in 2014 to invest commercially in projects across the state. Primarily focused on increasing economic activity and job creation, the fund can also support some infrastructure projects. The Minister for Finance directs most of the capital that the ISIF has but it can spend up to €7.6 billion at its own discretion. Earlier this year, the fund announced its intention to invest in more housing projects.O’Halloran claims that the proposal has been met with positivity from University management. “[The Bursar] immediately got onto it and he thought it was a great idea.” He further explained that “now that we have support from the Labour party and Joan Burton, we’re very confident that it’s something that will be looked into in great detail.” UCDSU hope to hear from the University about whether or not they will incorporate their proposal in the next four weeks.Burton’s letter of support comes amid an ongoing accommodation crisis for students, with UCD Residences raising prices by 13 per cent this year. This price hike was agreed by UCD’s Finance Remuneration and Asset Management Committee (FRAMC) during a period when there were no student representatives. Next year rents on campus are set to rise by 7 per cent.The Tánaiste’s statement came a week before the announcement of Budget 2016, which outlined that 20,000 housing units would be made available by 2020. Of these units, 90 per cent will be in the greater Dublin area. O’Halloran welcomed the increase saying “there is a massive shortfall up here, it’s really obvious, Dublin needs 10,000 houses immediately. And even this year another 2,000 houses on the south side probably would have been filled by students alone had they been there.” O'Halloran did note however that other locations in Ireland also need further housing development, saying “it’s good but in a way it’s almost too centralised to Dublin.”