Mr. Keith Moynes:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and the joint committee for the invitation to meet today to discuss the need for greater regulation and oversight of the English language teaching sector. Together with my colleagues, I wish to take this opportunity to provide the committee with an overview of the key reforms that have been implemented by the Government to strengthen the regulation of the international education sector in Ireland and to give an indication of future directions for regulation.

Successive national strategies on international education, including the most recent, namely, Global Citizens 2030: Ireland's International Talent and Innovation Strategy, have recognised the importance of a high-quality English language sector both for economic reasons and as a unique way of strengthening Ireland's relationships with partner countries in Europe and beyond. I think members will have seen a very visible manifestation of that on foot of the recent visit to Ireland of Prime Minister Sánchez of Spain, who had studied in Dublin as a teenager. These strategies have also identified the need to have a high-quality, robust experience for international learners. This needs to be supported by a regulatory environment which protects and enhances the overall quality of the international student experience. This regulatory imperative extends both to the requirements for providers recruiting international students and related student immigration procedures.

I will begin with the regime currently in place, which was introduced by the Government in 2015. This set of reforms were implemented in the student immigration system in response to a range of concerning practices within certain parts of the English language education sector and following the closure of a number of private colleges. These concerns primarily related to abuses of the immigration system which, in the absence of co-ordinated action across the Government, would have resulted in significant reputational damage to Ireland as a destination of choice for international education. These abuses centred on certain education providers that were operating so-called "visa factories" or business models that were based on facilitating access to the Irish labour market for international learners first and foremost, rather than being focused on providing high-quality educational experiences. I should say that Ireland is not in any way unique in experiencing these sorts of issues. These difficulties have manifested in a number of different jurisdictions that offer language education.

The key reform introduced in 2015 was the interim list of eligible programmes, known as the ILEP. The ILEP is a more restrictive list of eligible education programmes than was in place previously and is relied upon by the Department of Justice in respect of applications for the issuance of student immigration permissions. The ILEP lists the education programmes deemed acceptable for consideration of the granting of immigration permission to non-EU, EEA and UK students to reside and study, with restricted access to the labour market in Ireland. All education providers, including English-language education providers wishing to recruit such students, are required to have their programmes listed on the ILEP and to meet certain specified conditions relating to premises, programme design, governance requirements and student protection measures. The ILEP is currently managed within the Department of Justice by a team led by a seconded professional from Quality and Qualifications Ireland, QQI, whose colleagues are here today, with experience in issues of educational quality. QQI is the State agency under the remit of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science responsible for promoting the quality, integrity and reputation of Ireland's further and higher education system. The ILEP has served to improve the standards for the delivery of English language education in Ireland pending the introduction of the international education mark, which is a core component of the Government's policy for the English language sector.

I will turn now to the future strengthening of the regulatory environment. At this point I should say that as the committee is aware, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan has recently been appointed to the role of Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. In that context and in advance of any update which the Minister will bring to Government, I do not wish to prejudge what the Minister's policy preferences are with respect to the regulatory environment and how the international education mark should be implemented or what other supporting assurance measures may be required. In that context and having regard to the convention of not commenting on the merits of policy, I will restrict my remarks to setting out what is currently provided for in the existing legislation, namely, the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Act 2019.

The intent of the provisions of the Act as legislated for by the Oireachtas is to protect the interests of learners including international learners, to ensure the sustainability of Ireland's international education offerings and to safeguard Ireland's reputation internationally while maintaining the integrity of Ireland's education regime. The legislation significantly strengthens QQI's role as a regulator of the further, higher and English language education sectors.

The Act provides for the introduction of an international education mark, the IEM, which is intended to deliver on these policy objectives and will contribute to promoting Ireland as a first-choice destination for international learners, researchers and innovators. The IEM is expected to assure and promote confidence in the quality of the Irish education system with international stakeholders. It will ensure that international learners enrolled with higher education and English language education providers are protected and receive a quality, consistent learning experience. The legislation provides that QQI will authorise the use of the IEM in respect of international education provision within the higher education and English language education sectors to providers who have demonstrated that they meet national standards to ensure a quality experience for international learners from enrolment through to the completion of their programme of education and training.

The IEM is designed to work in tandem with other legislative provisions that have also been enacted for the protection of the welfare of international students. These include a new due diligence assessment process that will examine the capacity and capability of private education providers to quality assure and deliver education programmes. The intention of these assessments is to ensure that only providers with sufficient financial resources, sound business practices and a genuine commitment and capacity to meet learners' needs will secure State recognition for the education and training provision they offer.

In addition, QQI has been given legislative powers to establish a national scheme for the protection of enrolled learners by private education providers, which is underpinned by a new statutory learner protection fund. The fund has been designed to safeguard a learner's academic journey by ensuring that a learner can complete the programme they have begun if their programme is no longer offered by their provider for any reason. This applies not just to international learners but will provide assurance to all learners who undertake a course of study that is covered by the protection.

My colleagues and I are happy to provide any assistance to the committee. Our colleagues in QQI will now provide the committee with further information on the work done to date to develop the international education mark and related codes of practice.