Students are in the red. - 88% of students report worrying about their money and finances during the academic year. - There is an expected shortage of 20,000 student beds by 2024. -The €1,000 reduction in the Student Contribution Charge is a once off reduction. - PhD students are still fighting for a stipend that covers the cost of living. We, the students, need to take a stand for affordable, accessible education. Students can’t afford to stay quiet, so we’re walking out. At 11.11am On October 13th 2022, thousands of students walked out of lectures, to remind politicians that students aren’t an endless money pit. Our demands for students are as follows - Accommodation Demands: Protect Renters - Legislation to protect students in digs-style accommodation - Continuing the eviction ban for students - Legislative change to allow the RTB to intervene in disputes relating to security deposits Reduce Rents - Legislation to enact an immediate rental cap - Establishing freezes on utility bills separate from rents - Allowing the RTB to intervene in relation to security deposits Subsidisation of affordable PBSA from public funds - Building on public lands new and refurbished PBSA - Specifically ensuring approved PBSA is affordable in conditions - Re-establishing the interdepartmental group on student accommodation Cost of College Demands: Abolishment of the Student Contribution Charge - Abolition of the fee within the Lifetime of this Government - Transparency on how non-EU and postgraduate fees are set - Removing hidden course costs in materials and subsidies Funding for the HE Sector (inclusive of SUSI reform and funding) - Funding to increase SUSI grant levels to match the cost of living - Increasing SUSI rates for all brackets to a living subsidy - Increased funding to the sector to reduce the staff student ratio to the European average of 15:1 Minimum wage to match living wage - The normalisation of wages for workers under 20 years old - A PhD stipend of €28,000 following the PhD review - A living wage based on the cost of living, not the median income

We simply cannot afford to pay for this work, particularly at this time of soaring prices. The government has received a report from the Working Group to Examine Defects in Housing which outlines the scale of the problem. It contains different options for the government to decide how to deal with this issue. One of those options is a 100% redress scheme. This is the only just and workable option. We are calling on the government to agree to implement a 100% redress scheme and to then pursue the builders responsible for this crisis.

The government called its latest plan Housing for All but as with previous housing plans, it hasn’t delivered. Rents and house prices continue to rise exponentially, social and affordable housing delivery is behind targets, homelessness has also increased. The housing crisis is scarring a generation. For renters, it is beyond a cost of living crisis – it is a cost of survival crisis. We need a new vision and a new housing plan. We need Gaffs for All: delivering affordable, decent, green, forever homes. The housing crisis can be solved with the right policies and real action and funding in housing. We need a new housing plan and real solutions that will actually work to deliver affordable green homes for all – not half-baked solutions that will leave us with a permanent crisis and merely benefit the property industry and investor funds as the current housing plan does. Please sign this petition calling on the Government to implement the following ten key policies. After you have signed, share it on social media, with #gaffs4all and #right2housing Lets solve this housing crisis together!

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.

Thousands of people are being forced into factory-like accomodation with camp beds in halls, insecure hostels and cramped institutions, while some are even pitching tents or sleeping on the streets. Meanwhile thousands of homes lie empty across the Island - some have been built by toxic vulture funds and are owned by banks and businesses waiting on the prices to rise to turn a quick buck. Others are lying in disrepair with little intention to be used again. Many Airbnb’s and tourist lets are used only for a few weeks of the year.