A meeting of the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD Working Group on Education and Skills took place at the OECD Conference Centre in Paris on 18 December. The Working Group meets twice a year to consider a wide range of education policy issues across all education sectors within OECD member countries.
Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) was represented at the December meeting by Assistant General Secretary David Miskell and General Secretary Frank Jones.
IFUT contributed to the session on “Supporting success and improving equity in participation in higher education”, raising concerns about the growing dependence of universities on income from on-campus accommodation. IFUT highlighted that, in Ireland, this reliance—combined with the acute shortage of rental accommodation in university towns and cities—is having a severe impact on both students and staff seeking to access and remain in higher education.
This intervention was described by a representative of the OECD Directorate as a “political point”, reflecting the wider structural issues underlying access to higher education. IFUT also referenced poor management decisions taken during the Covid-19 pandemic, when some universities attempted to force students and staff back into lecture halls during public health restrictions. These actions were driven, in part, by a desire to fill empty accommodation blocks, rather than by educational or public health considerations.
IFUT’s position was supported by Seamus Searson, General Secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association SSTA, who noted that shortages of appropriate rental accommodation for students—and the growing reliance of third-level institutions on rental income—are issues affecting the entire UK. Both unions stressed that these pressures arise directly from inadequate public funding, which forces universities to seek alternative revenue streams, including student accommodation, to cover core education costs.
IFUT and the SSTA jointly urged the OECD to examine the scale and impact of this challenge as part of its forthcoming 2026 survey and report on Higher Education Access Policy.