Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

448. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the responsibility her Department has to students of English language colleges which close down, owing money to students, who are denied the services they came here to obtain, and for which they have paid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19756/15]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

449. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the steps her Department has taken to ensure that English language colleges are efficiently run; if she will provide the services that have been advertised and paid for by foreign students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19757/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 448 and 449 together.

Provision of private education, including English language training, is not subject to mandatory regulation in the State. The majority of English language schools in Ireland are privately run. Education providers are subject to unannounced inspection by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service and the Garda National Immigration Bureau for immigration control purposes. English language training organisations registered for quality purposes with ACELS (Accreditation and Co-ordination of English Language Services) on a voluntary basis are inspected as part of the ACELS scheme.

While I have every sympathy for the genuine affected students who lost money when the colleges closed, the relationship between students and private colleges is based on a private contract so there is no obligation on my Department or the State to provide refunds, or to pay for alternative provision. For that reason, the Task Force which I established jointly with the Minister for Justice and Equality to assist affected students has worked closely with the representative bodies of the high-quality private sector providers to develop solutions that could provide alternative courses at a significantly discounted rate for students impacted by the closures who were not covered by learner protection arrangements.

I am aware that liquidation proceedings are underway in certain cases, and students are pursuing claims as creditors through this process, including with the support of the Irish Council for International Students. Students may also be entitled to a refund from their agent or credit-card company.

My Department and the Department of Justice and Equality have produced a package of reforms to the student immigration system for international education which will be brought to Government for its approval shortly. These reforms will drive a restructuring in the sector designed to improve the overall quality of offering to international students, improve protection for learners, enhance Ireland's reputation and diminish negative impacts on the Irish labour market and social protection costs, strongly in line with the goals of Ireland's international education strategy.