Written answers

Thursday, 28 January 2016

Department of Justice and Equality

Immigration Policy

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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195. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the procedure by which English language schools which have no external accreditation are permitted on the interim list of education programmes even though external accreditation is one of the main requirements of being listed on the register; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3752/16]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the original policy intention announced in September 2014 by the Minister for Education and Skills and myself was to confine the granting of immigration permission to those English language students who were attending schools which had been recognised through the process known as the Accreditation and Coordination of English Language Services (ACELS), operated by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI). However this approach was successfully challenged in the High Court in a case taken by two institutions that did not hold ACELS recognition. The essential points of the court decision were that QQI lacked the vires to operate ACELS for such a purpose and that restricting immigration permission to the ACELS sector only involved a fettering of Ministerial discretion, particularly given that ACELS was then and remains closed to new applications.

When the ILEP was opened for applications, following a revised Government policy statement in May 2015, it was envisaged that colleges could find alternative external quality assurance but such proved to be unavailable. Since ACELS is closed to new applications, the result is that those providers without ACELS recognition had no means of obtaining quality assurance. Imposing a condition in respect of external quality assurance, which would be impossible for some providers to satisfy, irrespective of any actions they might take as regards enhancing the quality of their institution, would appear to run counter to the law. The only way of assessing providers therefore was a combination of desktop examination of applications supplemented by inspections in certain cases.

The fact that a provider and courses are listed on the ILEP means that in accordance with Ireland’s student immigration policy, attendance at that college in respect of one of their listed full time courses on the ILEP is an eligible purpose for a non-EEA national coming to Ireland. That is of course subject to the normal immigration controls and case by case consideration of individual immigration applications. The ILEP does not guarantee the quality of the institution but if a provider is listed on the ILEP in respect of courses they will have met certain criteria including the mandatory provision of learner protection in respect of enrolled non-EEA students. For the English language sector a maximum class size of 15 students applies to all ILEP listed providers and they must also have demonstrated that their teaching staff are properly qualified.

By its name and nature the Interim List of Eligible Programmes is a short term solution to address a gap in the lead up to the introduction of the International Education Mark which will provide a full quality framework in the future. It is nevertheless an ongoing process providers and must continue to comply with the stricter conditions now applicable to the sector in order to retain their listings. This will be the subject of ongoing monitoring.

The International Education Mark is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills. Our respective Departments continue to cooperate closely in the international student area.

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