Anthony Lawlor (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise an issue that arose yesterday and has arisen on several occasions in recent years, which is the closure of English language schools. I lay the blame firmly at the door of the Departments of Justice and Equality, and Education and Skills. Both Departments have failed to regulate English language schools resulting in a number of such schools becoming visa factories. When I heard yesterday that one of the students paid €1,000 for his course in an English language school, it confirmed that this school simply distributes visas. It also suggests that the school was bound to fail because the fees being charged would not allow it to survive.

There is a failure to inspect these schools and a failure to verify the type of education going on there. There is a failure in proper regulation, particularly on the part of the Department of Justice and Equality, which issues visas to students coming to Ireland based on the fact that schools are registered with it. They may have no qualified teachers or anyone competent enough to run the school, yet they allow students to come in, provide them with visas and allow them to work at low cost. It is driving the industry down in that it is allowing teachers to be paid low salaries as a result of these visa factories.

There are a number of good English language schools. This country has a good reputation for education but this situation is ruining that reputation. Some schools want to be regulated so that they can partake in the proper education of students coming to Ireland and not these visa factory schools.