Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Absolutely, that point is not in dispute. That is why these visa allocations should be based on educational and societal benefits. I fear that in many cases the international students are being used to make up for the funding shortfall in third level institutions. They are seen as a mechanism by which money can be made - money which the universities are starved of.

Second, there is this new private sector, namely English language schools with very high proportions of students coming from countries outside of the EEA. Anecdotally at least, some of those visas are being used to allow people to work in sectors that would not otherwise be able to get people on employment permits. Has the Department carried out any analysis of that and is that part of what it plans to examine? We need to get the balance right here and we need to be cognisant, particularly of the student accommodation crisis, and the educational value we receive by having international students in our society.

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