Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 393: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to the efforts being made by a group (details supplied) to have a memorial centre built in memory of a person who founded the Irish Naval Service; if an application has been received for funding towards the construction of a building and related interpretative material; if her attention has further been drawn to the potential to attract a substantial number of Argentine students here to attend language courses during the winter months in the northern hemisphere; the financial funding she will give to the memorial centre. [34787/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has not received an application for funding towards the construction of a memorial centre as referred to by the Deputy. My Department would not have any funding available for such a project.

According to the Advisory Council for English Language Schools, the number of students from South America, including Argentina, coming to Ireland to study English has been on the increase in recent years. As the Deputy may be aware, my Department published a report on the internationalisation of Irish education services in 2004 with a number of important recommendations, including the establishment of a new body, Education Ireland.

Education Ireland, which will incorporate the International Education Board of Ireland and the Advisory Council for English Language Schools, will be the leading body responsible for the promotion of Ireland as a centre of excellence in education. It will work with educational institutions and relevant agencies to plan for the expansion of quality educational services for all international students.