Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Deputies for raising this issue and share their concern for the students affected by the closures. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien has said 14 such schools have closed, but according to my figures, there have been 16 confirmed private English language school closures since April 2014 and approximately 5,000, mainly non-EEA, students have been affected. There was a disturbing level of immigration abuse in this sector and it is clear that a number of institutions were operating a business model that was based on little more than facilitating the economic migration of those seeking to come and work in Ireland.

The first priority of my Department and the Department of Justice and Equality in response was to find reasonable accommodation for genuinely affected students. A task force was established to co-ordinate efforts to ensure the provision of alternative courses for those who wished to continue their studies. For others, assurance of their immigration status was sufficient.

On foot of the work of the task force, a number of robust regulatory reforms in the international education sector were announced jointly by me and the Minister for Justice and Equality in September 2014. The reforms included the creation of a more restricted list of eligible programmes for immigration purposes to replace the existing internationalisation register of courses. The new list of programmes, referred to as the interim list of eligible programmes, was due to come into force on 1 January 2015. However, a legal challenge by two colleges to some aspects of the reforms relating to the language sector was upheld by the High Court. As a result, while certain reforms relating to the student work concession, under which non-EEA students have access to the labour market, were introduced as planned from 1 January, implementation of the interim list was temporarily deferred pending consideration of the High Court judgment. The two Departments have now produced a package of reforms, consistent with the High Court's judgment, under the student immigration system for international education which will be brought to the Government for its approval shortly. That will occur in the very near future.

Ireland's immigration regime for non-EEA students is a generous one. It comprises the right to live and study in Ireland and provides access to the labour market.

While Ireland needs to compete internationally in this market and the immigration regime is an essential part of the package, in order to justify the granting of such permission, three essential conditions at a policy level must be satisfied. First, there must be confidence that the industry is operating to an acceptable standard and that the students are immigration-compliant. There is no room for so-called visa factories in the Irish educational sector. Second, the programmes must be of a type that reflects Ireland's strategic priorities in international education. Ireland's international education strategy and its marketing is founded on the quality of Irish higher education and our strong track record in delivering quality-assured English language programmes to overseas students. Third, the immigration regime offered to students must be consistent with both immigration policy in general and good labour market management. This package of reforms, when approved by the Government, will ensure that overarching and comprehensive immigration and quality assurance processes are in place for the delivery of international education in the State. They will significantly contribute to maintaining and enhancing Ireland's reputation as a high-quality destination for international students.

Deputy McDonald mentioned the Department's approval process. We do not approve the quality of the courses but the international register is simply a list of programmes that meet relevant immigration criteria.

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