Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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655. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has discussed the interim list of eligible providers with the Minister for Justice; and his views on the way in which the list relates to further and higher education. [38118/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP) was introduced as part of a series of reforms to the student immigration system for international education in line with the Government decision of 19 May 2015. These reforms have been designed to:

- tackle abuse of the immigration regime,

- tackle abuse of the labour market,

- improve the overall quality of offering to international students,

- improve protection for learners,

- safeguard the strong international reputation of high-quality Irish education providers in line with the goals of Ireland’s international education strategy.

As part of these reforms all Higher Education Institutions and English language education providers wishing to recruit non-EEA students are required to be listed on the ILEP. This list details the education programmes considered to justify the granting of permission to non-EEA students to live and work in Ireland.

The ILEP was introduced in January 2016 and is administered by the Department of Justice in association with my Department. Officials of both Departments engage on a regular basis to assess the eligibility of applicants to the ILEP in addition to reviewing and updating its governing criteria and conditions.