Third-level institutions will be asked to examine reducing the number of days students must be on campus for lectures to limit commuting and pressure on student accommodation. The proposal, part of a new Government strategy, will be in the new national student accommodation strategy outlining the Government’s aim to produce 42,000 additional student beds in the next decade. Students commuting to collegeAs part of the strategy, the Government will also assess students commuting to college. At the end of last year, purpose-built student bed spaces in the State totalled 47,600. The Government’s new student accommodation strategy, seen by the Irish Examiner, will say the Government must target the delivery of new student beds while also promoting the rent-a-room scheme to meet the projected need for 42,000 additional spaces by 2035.

Source: Irish Examiner February 23, 2026 01:00 UTC