Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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518. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools which have applied for recognition from the Accreditation and Co-ordination of English Language Services under Quality and Qualifications Ireland in the years 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014; the average waiting time for an application for recognition to be assessed; the number of the applications which have been accepted and refused during this period; and the number of applications on which a decision is pending. [36926/14]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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519. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools which have applied for recognition from the Accreditation and Co-ordination of English Language Services under Quality and Qualifications Ireland during the period of 17 October 2013 to 31 January 2014; the number of these applications which have been accepted and refused by the ACELS; and the number of these applications on which a decision is pending. [36927/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 518 and 519 together.

Between 1 January and 31 August 2012, QQI/ACELS processed 13 applications for ACELS recognition, of which 7 were successful and 6 were refused.

In the light of the necessary preparations for the establishment of QQI through the amalgamation of HETAC, FETAC and the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI), new applications for ACELS recognition ceased to be accepted from 1 September 2012. However, given the expected timeframe for the establishment of the International Education Mark and related Code of Practice, which will supersede the ACELS recognition regime, QQI decided to re-open access to ACELS recognition for a temporary period from 17 October 2013 to 31 January 2014. The purpose of this period was to enable those English Language Training Organisations (ELTOs) which were ready to apply, and which had expressed a strong interest in gaining recognition for 2014, to do so through a revised and strengthened process.

During that period, QQI/ACELS received a total of 35 applications for recognition. As of 25 September, 5 of those applications had been successful, 1 application had been refused and 10 applications ceased due to closure, suspension or a change of circumstances post-application. The remaining 19 applications are still in process, with 14 of those applications being close to completion.

With regard to the processing time for applications, the process of assessing application for ACELS-recognition has two stages.

Stage 1 involves the submission of relevant documentation by the provider concerned and its assessment for compliance with ACELS standards. Where applications are complete and accurate this stage is completed in a maximum of 10 weeks. However, the provider may be asked for additional information and is given a period of 30 working days to respond. This can happen twice. Therefore, where a provider is asked for additional information on two occasions and on both occasions takes the full 30 working days, the process can be lengthened considerably.

Stage 2 involves a site visit and inspection report. The date of the inspection is agreed with the provider within 10 days of the completion of Stage 1 and, once completed, the provider has 10 working days to comment on the factual accuracy of the report.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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520. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of English language schools which have closed in 2013 and to date in 2014; and the number of these schools which were accredited with the Accreditation and Co-ordination of English Language Services under Quality and Qualifications Ireland. [36928/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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As ACELS is a voluntary scheme, English Language Schools may operate outside the scheme and may close without coming to the attention of the Department or its agencies. For that reason it is not possible to provide definitive figures.

For 2013, the Department is aware of the closure of a single school offering English language tuition. The school concerned had had its recognition withdrawn by ACELS in advance of its closure.

The Department is aware of 8 schools offering English language tuition which have closed in 2014, none of which were recognised by ACELS at the time of their closure. However, two of those schools had recently had their recognition withdrawn by ACELS.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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521. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when regulations underpinning the establishment of the international education mark which will apply to educational providers including English language schools will be published; when providers seeking recognition under the IEM will be permitted to submit applications for recognition. [36929/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Under the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act, 2012, QQI is responsible for the establishment of an International Education Mark and related Code of Practice for the provision of education to international learners.

QQI published its White Paper on the International Education Mark in May and will be publishing a draft Code of Practice, developed in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, in the coming weeks. The final Policy on the International Education Mark and the Code of Practice will be published by QQI before the end of the year. QQI will begin to accept applications for authorisation to use the International Education Mark from English Language Training Organisations at the beginning of 2015 and higher education providers will then be able to apply in the second half of the year.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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522. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has carried out an impact analysis in conjunction with the Department of Justice and Equality to determine the number of English language schools and other educational providers which may close due to the new system of regulation for educational providers coming into effect as set out in the policy statement published in September 2014, entitled Regulatory Reform of the International Education Sector and the Student Immigration Regime. [36930/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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In developing the reforms of the international education sector, the two Departments had regard to a range of issues including protecting the consumer and education interests of genuine international students, the labour market implications, the integrity of the immigration regime as well as impacts on the sector, particularly high quality Irish education providers.

On the establishment of the Taskforce on Students Affected by the Closure of Private Colleges, it was indicated that my Department and the Department of Justice and Equality were working on producing a strong quality framework for the international education sector to ensure that only genuine international students study in Ireland, to protect the learners that choose to study here and to ensure our international reputation was not undermined.

In this context, the Report of the Task Force noted along with the introduction of a new International Education Mark and Code of Practice, that strengthened regulations could lead to further college closures which would need to be managed in the short term. In the event of any further college closures in the coming period, it was noted in the Report that arrangements already in place for reasonable accommodation for students displaced by the closures which have already occurred, are designed to have some scalability to accommodate such an eventuality.

The impact of possible college closures, if negative, must be measured against the damage done to Ireland's reputation and the integrity of our immigration system of maintaining the status quo. The reform, along with the introduction of a new International Education Mark and Code of Practice, are ulimately to the benefit of the sector, with particular regard to the quality of offering and protection for learners.

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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523. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a decision has been made to restrict eligibility for recognition under the new regulatory system for the international education sector to bodies accredited to Irish accreditation bodies only as is provided for in the policy statement published in September 2014, entitled Regulatory Reform of the International Education Sector and the Student Immigration Regime. [36931/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The reforms referred to by the Deputy are necessary to protect the consumer and educational interests of genuine international students, to tackle abuse of the labour market and the immigration regime and to safeguard the strong international reputation of high-quality Irish education providers. The Policy Statement launched by the Minister for Justice and Equality and I on 2 September provides further detail on this issue and can be accessed on the Department's website at the following link -http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/Regulatory-Reform-of-the-International-Education-Sector-and-the-Student-Immigration-Regime.pdf.