Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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215. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to introduce a special student visa for students from Turkey for English language training schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23270/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Since 2011, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, INIS, has established a pilot programme in Turkey in partnership with Marketing English in Ireland, MEI, a representative body of English language schools. This pilot project was put in place to contribute to positioning Ireland as a high quality destination for English language training. The programme has been extended for a further phase covering 2013 and 2014. INIS is open to negotiate and implement similar programmes for Turkey, a key market for English language education, with other high-quality ACELS accredited institutions.