Ms Laura Harmon:

On behalf of the Irish Council for International Students, I thank the committee for this opportunity to address members on the regulation of the English language education sector in Ireland. I am joined today by my colleague Mr. Brian Hearne, ICOS policy and communications manager. Mr. Hearne deals with many queries to ICOS directly from students. In the Public Gallery we are joined by Ms Maura Tangara and Ms Loreto Magana, members of our student advisory group which has informed this briefing.

ICOS is 52 years old. We have 26 institutional members. All of the universities and technological universities are members of ICOS, as are many of the independent third level colleges. The Union of Students in Ireland is also a member of ICOS and we have an independent student advisory group, which we set up last year, to inform our work.

It is fitting that we addressed this committee on this very topic ten years ago in June 2014. A lot of our recommendations are still relevant but, unfortunately, many of them have not yet been implemented. There, has, however, been much progress since then.

That is worth noting. The long-awaited implementation of the international education mark, IEM, represents a genuine opportunity for robust quality assurance to be at the forefront of education in Ireland. The ICOS hopes greater regulation of the sector will enhance Ireland’s reputation as a global study destination while safeguarding the interests of international students. According to the Indecon review of the last international education strategy, Ireland's international education sector is worth an estimated €2.3 billion to the Irish economy and the English language education sector is worth more than €1 billion in direct and indirect economic benefits. It is hugely important to the economy.

During the period 2014 to 2015, almost 20 private colleges and language schools ceased operating, leaving thousands of international students distressed and without the classes for which they had paid. The ICOS took a leading role at the time in assisting these affected students to support them and advise them on the legal processes, alternative provision and immigration matters. In response to this, the Department of Justice introduced the interim list of eligible programmes, ILEP, which aimed to tackle abuses of the immigration system, protect international students and ensure education providers meet minimum standards. While the ILEP was successful in cracking down on many rogue providers, since its introduction, five English language schools and several recruitment agencies have gone into liquidation. In all but one of these cases, students either lost money or were left without classes they should have received.

The most recent closure occurred in 2023 when a prominent school in Galway announced it would cease trading. This resulted in a surge of affected students and their agencies contacting us in the ICOS. Although most of the impacted students were provided with alternative classes or a partial refund, the ICOS is aware of more than a dozen students who were offered nothing. We have also seen evidence from several students who paid money to the school for learner protection that was never taken out for them, and it is our understanding the school continued to sell courses right up until it went into liquidation.

As the ILEP is difficult to understand and navigate, particularly if English is not your first language, international students turn to the ICOS for information and advice. Last year, the ICOS responded to 167 complaints from English language students about their English language schools. Examples of breaches of these complaints and breaches include unfair or harsh expulsions, where students were not given the benefit of the doubt; failure to refund a student following a visa refusal; failure to take out learner protection; failure to use an escrow account; questionable or non-transparent attendance practices; misleading information about studying and working in Ireland; and poor communication. Even the basic rules of the ILEP, such as the requirement for English language schools to display the timetables for programmes on their websites, are not being followed by all providers. The ICOS believes these breaches are a direct result of the current lack of oversight and enforcement of the regulations in the English language sector. This is emphasised by the fact that only three inspections of English language schools were carried out across the sector in 2023. We got this information from the response to a parliamentary question asked by Deputy Mairéad Farrell on our behalf recently.

The IEM proposes to strengthen the role of Qualifications and Quality Ireland, QQI, as a regulator in both the higher education and English language education sectors, and the ICOS welcomes this. We are encouraged to see that the experience of international students is central to the IEM and that there is an emphasis on student welfare. At present, however, little recourse is available to English language students who are unhappy with their English language school. When a dispute arises between a student and their school, there is often very little the student can do if the school refuses to engage with them and their education status can be put in jeopardy.

To summarise, the ICOS acknowledges that there are many English language schools in Ireland offering high-quality classes to their students. What these schools are providing is an essential element of our economy. We also know, however, that some schools breach the rules and there is a lack of oversight and enforcement. Our recommendations include the need for there to be a robust external monitoring, inspection and enforcement system to oversee the implementation of the IEM; the need to establish an independent ombudsman for the sector; the need for an awareness-raising campaign about the IEM that is directed towards international students and other key stakeholders; and that English language schools should need to provide clear details on their websites about the student recruitment agencies they work with.

I look forward to any questions and thank the committee very much.