Dr. Jim Murray:

I am directly involved in this. It is good to be able to talk about it.

We have a new scheme. There are a number of dimensions to it. First, we have a new due diligence system that looks at the capacity and capability of all private providers. The providers that have been subject to it are the first group of English language schools that have applied for the TrustEd Ireland quality mark. Essentially, this is a very rigorous process. It is used to look at the fitness of these schools to operate as businesses. That is one side of it. English language schools have to comply with statutory quality assurance guidelines around their delivery of programmes. They also have to demonstrate compliance with a new statutory code of practice. It is a voluntary scheme. However, if schools want to recruit international students, they must go through it. They will not be able to get visas for students unless they go through the scheme.

The first 15 providers are coming to the end of the process. We hope to make the authorisations at the end of this year. A second application window has opened, and more than 60 providers from the English language side have applied for that. The TrustEd Ireland quality mark is for all providers of education and training programmes, both public and private, offered to international learners. The universities have the higher education pathway. The English language colleges offer a separate pathway. At the end of the process, any entity within the private sector that gets TrustEd Ireland authorisation or that engages with QQI in the context of its other statutory functions in the context of the provision of courses to international learners will have to enrol in a protection of enrolled learners scheme. Again, this is a statutory scheme that will be used as a last resort in cases where programmes cease to be delivered or a business goes under. Our role is to facilitate the transfer of students in those circumstances. If that does not prove possible, we will be in a position to refund tuition fees.

There are different elements involved. We are at the stage where the first group of English language providers have done their due diligence and are being evaluated. They are being evaluated against the statutory code of quality assurance and the code of practice. We have engaged in site visits in this regard. The code of practice deals with all of the issues the Deputy mentioned and with due diligence. At the end of the process, there is the added piece around learner protection.

It is a very robust scheme. It took some time to develop because the legal issues and so forth had to be worked through. We are in the first phase of implementation now. That is the plan.

ACELS will disappear as soon as we come to the end of the second application window. Thereafter, any provider that wants to recruit international students will have to have the TrustEd Ireland quality mark to be able to do so. All the information in this regard is on our website.