Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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501. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware of the concerns of community and voluntary training providers at the proposed fees for engagement and validation of qualifications by Quality and Qualifications Ireland, in particular the impact of such fees on the capacity of organisations to provide education and training programmes for disadvantaged groups; her plans to exempt charities from these fees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27284/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Re-engagement, or the formal agreement of quality assurance with Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), is a requirement for legacy providers under the 2012 Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act. Since its establishment in 2012, QQI has been proactive in its engagement with education and training representative bodies. Specifically, it has engaged with a number of community and voluntary training actors including AONTAS and the Community Education Network (CEN).

QQI has now established a working group in partnership with the community and voluntary sector to enable a process of collaboration and engagement with key stakeholders and providers. The working group, which is facilitated by an external Chair, had its first meeting on 3rd March 2015, and has subsequently met on 2 other occasions. It has also jointly hosted a consultative event on QQI's quality assurance guidelines relevant to this sector which took place on 30th June 2015. Through these joint initiatives, QQI and the community and voluntary sector are working together on a range of operational, developmental and strategic matters in the specific context of quality assurance and re-engagement. The issue of fees will be informed by the work of the working group.