It is Question No. 10.

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Okay.

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10. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide an update in respect of the provision of student accommodation for Maynooth University; his plans for investment in this area; and if he has engaged with the HEA on this matter. [14259/25]

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I will start by taking the opportunity to wish both the Minister and Minister of State very well in their new and exciting portfolios. I wish Deputy Lawless well in particular, as he is a constituency colleague. I was delighted to hear the news and really wish him the very best in his role. I wish to ask the Minister about his plans with regard to investment in student accommodation in Maynooth. Are there any plans for investment there and what is the extent of his communications with the university and the Higher Education Authority on the matter?

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I am a very proud former student of Maynooth University and I also worked there for a number of years. I was also a councillor representing the Clane-Maynooth municipal district. The Minister will be well aware that there is something quite unique about Maynooth in terms of the student town. The population essentially doubles during term time. The student accommodation issue is not isolated to students benefitting in the primary case but directly impacts everything else, in terms of living, working and growing up in Maynooth. Having spoken to the president, the students union and to students themselves, it is clear that there is a growing concern that Maynooth, with its designation under the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy, RSES, has a population that is set to continue to grow and evolve. If we can unlock the potential of student accommodation aggressively, that will have a direct knock-on impact on everything else, including things like infrastructure, GP services, public transport and so on. It is a key piece of the jigsaw. I welcome the commitment from the Government and encourage the Minister to continue to be as ambitious as possible for Maynooth.

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I have one more supplementary question but do not expect the Minister to be able to answer it today. Given the uniqueness of Maynooth, would the Minister consider a working group, involving representatives of the Department, the council, the HSE and others, to sit around the table to get the sustainability of this development right? Maynooth is a decarbonised town and there are lots of different and very important stakeholders at play with regard to the development of Maynooth. It might work really well in terms of getting the long-term planning right if we got those stakeholders together as part of a working group.

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It could be a pilot project.

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I am conscious of time, Deputy. We are just out of time. I will give the final word to the Minister before we move on to the next item.

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Four Members have indicated they would like to come in with a supplementary comment. I ask them to be really mindful of their time and to keep their contributions nice and short. They have a maximum of 30 seconds each.

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Thank you, Deputy.

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