Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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1123. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 684 of 10 March 2021, if he will address matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); if language schools will be instructed to reopen in the absence of demand; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14733/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Under current Level 5 restrictions, all activity in the English Language Education (ELE) sector should now be wholly online and providers have been advised that there is no basis for the recruitment of international students who might travel to the country.

As part of the response to the pandemic, my Department has established a specific Working Group for the ELE sector comprised of representatives of relevant Government Departments and sectoral representatives of staff, students and providers. This Working Group provides a forum to support the ELE sector in its development of sector specific reopening protocols in addition to providing information to stakeholders on the Government supports that are available for English language education. If the Deputy wishes to forward the particular correspondence, I can ask the Working Group engage directly on the issues raised.

My Department will continue to engage with ELE stakeholders as this sector moves, aligned with public health advice, towards its full re-opening and continues on a path to recovery.