Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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135. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which primary providers within the community sector and voluntary sector can avail of a waiver of fees in the context of re-engaging with Quality and Qualifications Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6488/18]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) was established on 6 November 2012 by the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012 through an amalgamation of four predecessor agencies - the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC), the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC), the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI) and the Irish Universities Quality Board (IUQB).

The charging of fees to providers is enabled by the 2012 Act and is integrally linked with how QQI is implementing its quality assurance and quality improvement role. The policy informing QQI's application of fees was subject to extensive consultation and provides that fees will be comprehensive, coherent and reflect the amount and complexity of the work undertaken by QQI. Fees had always been applied to providers in the higher education and training sector and QQI introduced fees for providers in the further education and training sector, thereby applying its policies equitably.

In 2013 QQI published its policy for re-engagement with all education and training providers that had a quality assurance agreement with a predecessor agency. Accreditation, including that provided by some of the predecessor agencies, is, by its nature, time-limited and subject to renewal. It is not a permanent status attributed to a provider.

Re-engagement with such 'legacy' providers involves agreeing revised quality assurance procedures in accordance with specified requirements set down in the 2012 Act and in QQI policy.

Regarding providers in the Community and Voluntary Sector specifically, it was agreed at a meeting hosted by my Department in December 2014 that there would be a lead-in time for the re-engagement process and that the issue of fees for community and voluntary providers would not arise until 2016 . This period was subsequently extended which has permitted QQI to hold more extensive engagements with providers from this Sector.

Over the period in question, QQI established a Joint QQI/Community and Voluntary Working Group involving an independent facilitator with extensive experience in the community and voluntary sector. This working group focused on a range of operational, developmental and strategic matters in the specific context of quality assurance and re-engagement which has informed both QQI and providers of the scope and nature of the requirements necessary for re-engagement. To test these operational requirements, QQI is currently conducting a pilot exercise including providers from the community and voluntary sector which is expected to conclude in the coming months. Further to these initiatives, QQI also held a series of regional briefings over the course of 2017 for stakeholders to ensure that they are fully informed and prepared for re-engagement.

The final level of fee to be applied to legacy providers seeking to re-engage with QQI has yet to be determined and is currently the subject of deliberation between QQI and my Department.