The leader of Independent Ireland, Michael Collins, has said the deepening student accommodation crisis is the direct result of the Government ignoring reforms that were clearly set out by his party in 2024, including VAT reduction on building supplies, planning reform, and supports for students in higher education.
The Cork South‑West TD said the State’s own figures now expose the scale of the failure. The student housing accommodation strategy, launched in March 2026, identified a need to bring another 42,000 beds to the market in the space of a decade. However, those within the construction industry now estimate the state will deliver just 422, or one per cent of what is required.
Deputy Collins said this collapse in delivery is the predictable outcome of refusing to implement the measures Independent Ireland has repeatedly put forward:
“Our manifesto made it very clear. We said that the state needed to reduce VAT on building supplies, reform planning so people can build on their own land and deliver large‑scale projects that actually meet demand. If Government had listened, we would not be in a situation where students are living in hostels or and couch-surfing while 14,000 approved beds sit on paper.”
Deputy Collins said reporting today from the Irish Examiner shows developers are now publicly calling for VAT on new student accommodation builds to be cut entirely, a position Independent Ireland adopted long before the current crisis reached this point:
“When developers, universities, and students are all saying the same thing, that VAT is making projects unviable, it is extraordinary that Government still refuses to act,” he said.
He added that Ireland is now falling behind many EU member states that treat student accommodation as core educational infrastructure rather than a discretionary market product:
“Across the EU, reduced VAT rates and university–developer partnerships have underpinned student housing delivery for more than a decade. But while other member states have removed the barriers that make construction unviable, Ireland has inexplicably kept them in place and as a result is now on track to deliver just one per cent of what it says is needed.”
Deputy Collins concluded by saying that the Government must immediately implement the reforms Independent Ireland has already set out including VAT reduction on building supplies, planning reform to unlock stalled projects, and targeted supports for students in higher education:
“If Government wants to prove it is serious about tackling this crisis, then they should sit down with me and my party and listen to the commonsense proposals we have been making for years. They cannot continue to put party before progress on this critical issue.”