Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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262. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to respond to issues raised concerning English language schools (details supplied). [4025/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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In May 2015 the Government announced significant reforms of the international education sector and student immigration. A key element was the implementation of the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP) to replace the International Register on a phased basis. The first phase was completed in June 2015 and the second iteration of the ILEP was delivered on the targeted date of 20 January 2016. All appeals were disposed of. That part of the correspondence enclosed by the Deputy has therefore been overtaken by events.

My Department has no role in accrediting English language schools or programmes. 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.

Part of the process included unannounced inspections of certain providers. Providers who had no external quality assurance were for obvious reasons among those visited. A sample of schools with quality assurance were also inspected, with the number of students enrolled being one of the key factors to be taken into account in their selection. These inspections were carried out in November and December of last year and it is intended that further inspections, including follow up inspections were necessary, will continue throughout 2016 to ensure ongoing compliance with the new set of rules that came into operation in conjunction with the ILEP .