Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 1145: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if discussions have taken place between him and the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Education and Science to provide for coherence, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness in the system of allocating visas to foreign nationals outside the EEA, who seek to come here to pursue their studies in recognised Irish institutions as recommended in a recent report (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1100/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Various meetings have taken place between officials of my Department and those of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Education and Science on the matter of student immigration since the Report. Other Departments and agencies also participated. Numerous bilateral contacts on the issue involving my Department have also taken place.

Since the publication of the Report a key development in terms of visa applications has been the transfer of this function to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform under the management of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service. This allows visas to be managed as part of an overall immigration system. Visa offices have been opened in a number of key countries with a view to providing an effective pre-clearance system.

My Department has for a number of years had in place a set of detailed student visa guidelines. These are available on the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service website (www.inis.gov.ie). The guidelines are intended to assist frequent and high volume users of the student visa scheme and are updated as need arises.

However, it is important to understand the overall context here. Students like all migrants are subject to the State's immigration controls and as Minister I need to be satisfied that people coming into the State for study purposes are doing so for genuine educational purposes. I have some concerns in this respect and I am having a review conducted by my Department of our student immigration policies and procedures with a view to improving overall transparency and reducing the scope for abuse.