Some students using Cork charity services in order to feed themselves amid accommodation crisis
Caitríona who heads the Cork Penny Dinners charity, said she is having to distribute emergency packs to college students foregoing meals to pay their rent. They include enough necessities to get the recipient through the day including sandwiches, soup, tea and bottles of water.
THE head of a Cork charity is calling for additional measures to tackle the student accommodation crisis following the introduction of a multimillion-euro fund to deal with the crisis.
Caitríona Twomey from Cork Penny Dinners said she welcomes efforts by the Government who announced a €434m scheme to address the issue. However, she added that many college students will remain in dire situations if rents continue to exist at their current level.
Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said any projects funded through the 434 million euro scheme will offer rents below the market rate.
The scheme, provided through the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Housing Finance Agency (HFA), are set to provide universities with cost loans over extended time periods.
The initiative comprises a 40-year 200 million euro loan from the EIB, with the state HFA supplementing the rest.
Meanwhile, Ms Twomey, who heads the Cork Penny Dinners charity, said she is having to distribute emergency packs to college students foregoing meals to pay their rent. They include enough necessities to get the recipient through the day including sandwiches, soup, tea and bottles of water.
“I welcome this but I’m also conscious that there is a cold Winter ahead and that more needs to be done", she told .
"Some students are coming into Cork Penny Dinners daily. They are going into college five days a week and need to find a way to survive. Our survival bags mean they have enough food to last them the next 24 hours. They are trying to study and do well in life and this should be encouraged. Instead, this is the way they are having to live. Some students have spoken to us about the huge burden this has been on their parents”.
She added that the majority are very open about their situations.
She described the living conditions some students are enduring as "atrocious".
“They are living in atrocious conditions. Some of them have difficulty in asking for help and are not even sure how they phrase the question when emailing us”.
Isabel Power from Cork Student Housing Co-operative- a group of students and alumni from third-level institutions in Cork city also praised the efforts of the government. However, she expressed her wishes to garner more support for alternative models. The CSHC is currently working to provide not-for-profit student accommodation “through the co-operative model of mutual aid, self-help, solidarity and democracy”.
“If there is any way that we could access the fund we would love to see that made possible", Ms Power said.
"We are still looking for investors people who would like to help us get our student cooperative off the ground. If we could access this fund it would be fantastic but even just seeing that it is available is good news. I hope that it can be turned around quickly because I am talking to students who still haven’t found accommodation for this year even though it’s now the end of October.
"A lot of them are staying in B&Bs or are in precarious situations. It is important that accommodation is fairly priced. The precarious housing situation is really stressful for students. Usually, they accept the first offer they get even if it’s unsuitable".
She reiterated the impact the housing crisis is having on students.
“It is pushing students to the limit financially especially those students who don’t have financial aid from families”, she said.
"What we are about is bringing the sense of community back into student accommodation. I’d be interested to see if there would be any opportunities for our group to access funding and get the idea off the ground. Maybe there is an opportunity there to create a cooperative model”.
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