Students from all around the State will march to Leinster House this afternoon to demand a £65 million investment in student accommodation.
The Union of Students in Ireland says that only 8 per cent of students at third level are in oncampus residential units, compared to up to a quarter in other European countries.
Up to 13,000 extra units are needed to bring Ireland into line with these countries, according to Mr Cian O'Callaghan, of USI.
The fact that many third-level colleges have their own land on which to build and that a programme of tax relief is in place would help to keep the cost per unit down to about £5,000, according to USI.
Mr O'Callaghan said that up to 60,000 students had to seek accommodation during each academic year.
This year's Finance Act introduced tax relief for the provision of rented residential accommodation for third-level students. To qualify for relief, the accommodation must either be on campus or within an 8 km radius of the main campus.
The Minister for Education and Science, Mr Martin, recently told Mr Michael D'Arcy TD that oncampus accommodation for 700 students was expected to be completed well in advance of the next academic year at the Galway campus of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, while approval for 450 bed spaces on campus had been sanctioned by the University of Limerick.
Four other unnamed institutions have approved plans submitted by developers for accommodation within 8 km of their main campuses.
Mr O'Callaghan said USI welcomed the extra accommodation, but it was far below what was needed.
USI has a seat on the recently-formed Commission on the Private Rented Residential Sector.