Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 401: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his plans to regulate the language education sector; the number of students in this sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47556/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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At present, the English language sector is regulated on a voluntary basis by the Advisory Council for English Language Schools (ACELS), a company limited by guarantee which operates under the aegis of my Department. It provides a voluntary quality assurance and inspection scheme for private sector English language schools. ACELS also approves teacher training qualifications for the EFL private sector, and has developed English language proficiency test instruments. Schools which comply with the ACELS quality assurance and inspection scheme are approved by my Department for the purpose of providing English language programmes in the private sector. The conditions for recognition of schools are available on the body's website at www.acels.ie.

In April 2005 my Department established an Internationalisation Register which sets out programmes approved for the purpose of access to work by students who are citizens from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland. Under the immigration regime, such students will only be given access to work if they are attending full time programmes on the Register. The criteria for inclusion require that the programme be full-time, at least 15 hours per week for a minimum of 25 weeks, and lead to a nationally recognised award, or its international equivalent. Language programmes which meet the duration criteria and are approved under the ACELS quality assurance and inspection scheme are also eligible for inclusion on the Register, provided they offer assessment for students at the end of the programme using recognised language proficiency test instruments. The criteria for inclusion are included in an Information Note, along with the Internationalisation Register, on the Department's website at www.education.ie. The register is updated on a monthly basis.

I have already indicated my intention that the qualifications body, which will arise from the amalgamation of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council and the Further Education and Training Awards Council, should take on responsibility for providing the overall regulatory framework for the provision of international education programmes. The role and functions of ACELS will be examined as part of the amalgamation process.

The most recent data regarding the number of international students in this sector comes from a Fáilte Ireland-commissioned report, carried out by Indecon consultants in 2007, entitled "International Competitor Analysis and Benchmarking of Ireland's English language learning sector". This report suggests that the language sector attracts up to 130,000 students per year and that the sector is worth €500 million annually to the Irish economy. The overwhelming majority of students in this sector come from European countries. The Indecon report suggested that 74% of English language students were from Europe.