Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her kind words on the work we do at the committee and for her update on the area of mediation. We must acknowledge that the English language teaching sector has been blighted over the past number of years with some schools closing overnight without any notice impacting on vulnerable students, many of whom were left in a situation with very poor English and having paid very significant fees to those schools. We must also acknowledge the situation of the teachers involved. In early December, in the case of Grafton College, 35 teachers were left without jobs and 20 teachers did not even receive their previous pay into their bank accounts. It is a difficult situation.

The Minister mentioned the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) (Amendment) Bill 2018. I accept that the Bill is before the Seanad but my party is not happy that there is not stakeholder engagement on it. It came up at the Joint Committee on Education and Skills also that we would prefer that there would be stakeholder engagement on this Bill.

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