Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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426. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if it is the case that from January 2015 international students on courses in private colleges accredited by organisations such as City and Guilds, Edexcel, ICM and CT will not be granted visas; if it is the case that only students in colleges providing FETAC courses accredited by Quality and Qualifications Ireland will be allowed visas; if it is the case that it can take FETAC course providers up to a year to gain accreditation from QQI; her views that this will put many private colleges under severe pressure in the interim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44931/14]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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A number of reforms which I announced together with the Minister for Justice and Equality on 2nd September are currently being implemented to strengthen the regulation of international education in Ireland. The policy document Regulatory Reform of the International Education Sector and the Student Immigration Regime, which explains the rationale for these reforms, was published in September 2014. It contains a number of changes, adopted by Government, to immigration policy that governs the recruitment of international students by providers.

The current Internationalisation Register will be replaced by an 'Interim List of Eligible Programmes for Student Immigration Permission' from 1st January 2015. The Interim List will act as a reference point for the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of the Department of Justice and Equality in considering visa and residency applications from non-EEA applicants wishing to study on a full-time basis in Ireland and to avail of a concession to take up casual employment in the State with certain restrictions. The granting of student visas remains at the sole discretion of the Minister for Justice and Equality.

One of the criteria for inclusion on the Interim List from 1st January 2015 relates to programme accreditation: only programmes which are accredited or recognised by Irish awarding bodies, such as the universities or QQI, in the English language and higher education sectors will be permitted to be listed. Therefore providers will not be permitted to recruit non-EEA students to programmes leading to the awards referred to by the Deputy. Detailed information on the criteria for inclusion of programmes on the Interim List can be found on www.intregister.ie.

It is important to be clear that these reforms pertain solely to the immigration status of non-EEA nationals. No change has been made which will restrict the ability of private colleges to educate Irish citizens or to attract international students from within the European market of over half a billion people. These reforms are necessary to protect the educational and consumer 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.

Regarding the length of time to gain FETAC course accreditation from QQI, QQI has advised that the length of time taken is very much dependent on the level of preparedness and responsiveness of the applying provider.