I would respctfully like to thank Richard Boyd Barrett TD for raising this issue and Minister Varadkar for his reponse. I would like to add some further material, as I do not believe that response supplied by the minister will have sufficient impact on a very important sector for Irish Tourism - let me be specific.
The English Language Training sector (ELT) is responsible for between €350-500 Million Euro to Irish Tourism, and as such is counted towards the €5,000 Million Euro that Failte Ireland is reponsible for. Failte Ireland has an annual budget of €147 Million Euro, and a total of €32,000 was "gifted" to MEI last year - with €0 in 2013.
With due respect to the Minister, if the ELT sector was to ask Failte Ireland for their fair share - say 8% of budget, i.e. Circa €10 Million Euro - this would take away from existing activities. I could understand Failte Ireland's reluctance to give the ELT sector its "fair share"
Therefore this debate needs to be held above Failte Ireland and as such the Minsiter for Tourism should have a say over and above Failte Ireland. It could also involve the Department of technology and Skills and also the department of Education and the Department of Justice, since there is a Visa Issue around immigration of non-EU nationals to study in Ireland.
Bottom line - the ELT sector brings in over €350 Million of external investment to the Irish Economy, supports over 4,000 full-time jobs and 8,000 temporary jobs - and needs to be taken seriously at Ministerial level. I would be happy to meet with any member of Government and/or opposition parties to discuss this more fully to protect this hugely valuable source of income to the Irish Economy.
PS - I am biased as I co-own an English Language school.
Peter Lawless
Posted on 24 Jul 2013 2:56 pm
I would respctfully like to thank Richard Boyd Barrett TD for raising this issue and Minister Varadkar for his reponse. I would like to add some further material, as I do not believe that response supplied by the minister will have sufficient impact on a very important sector for Irish Tourism - let me be specific.
The English Language Training sector (ELT) is responsible for between €350-500 Million Euro to Irish Tourism, and as such is counted towards the €5,000 Million Euro that Failte Ireland is reponsible for. Failte Ireland has an annual budget of €147 Million Euro, and a total of €32,000 was "gifted" to MEI last year - with €0 in 2013.
With due respect to the Minister, if the ELT sector was to ask Failte Ireland for their fair share - say 8% of budget, i.e. Circa €10 Million Euro - this would take away from existing activities. I could understand Failte Ireland's reluctance to give the ELT sector its "fair share"
Therefore this debate needs to be held above Failte Ireland and as such the Minsiter for Tourism should have a say over and above Failte Ireland. It could also involve the Department of technology and Skills and also the department of Education and the Department of Justice, since there is a Visa Issue around immigration of non-EU nationals to study in Ireland.
Bottom line - the ELT sector brings in over €350 Million of external investment to the Irish Economy, supports over 4,000 full-time jobs and 8,000 temporary jobs - and needs to be taken seriously at Ministerial level. I would be happy to meet with any member of Government and/or opposition parties to discuss this more fully to protect this hugely valuable source of income to the Irish Economy.
PS - I am biased as I co-own an English Language school.