Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

192. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an analysis has been carried by his Department of the expenditure of stamp two visa holders while studying in Ireland; if an analysis has been done on the income of stamp two visa holders in which all working time rules are followed and an attendance rate of over 85% is maintained over three eight month periods in an English language school; and if the expenditure is greater than the highest potential income of students who work to fund their study, if consideration will be given to removing limits on working hours in order that workers can meet their expenditure while staying within the working limit rules. [32396/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

No such analyses are currently underway.

A were implemented in 2015. The reforms were designed to drive real and lasting change in the sector and address abuse of the immigration regime and labour market, improve the overall quality of educational offering to international students, and improve protection and supports for learners, whilst safeguarding the strong international reputation of high-quality Irish education providers consistent with the goals of Ireland’s International Education Strategy.

The primary purpose of the Stamp 2 immigration permission is to enable non-EEA students to travel to Ireland to avail of educational opportunities and in the case of the sector in question, to study English. To pursue their studies, English language students can avail of up to three Stamp 2 immigration permissions, each of 8 months duration, to a maximum of two years. As part of each 8 month permission, a student enrols on an English language programme which meets the requirements of the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP), which is at least 25 weeks in duration and which provides a minimum of 15 classroom tuition hours per week led by an appropriately qualified teacher. The class attendance requirements linked to this permission are key to underpinning the integrity of English language provision.

While primarily for the purpose of study, this permission also allows Stamp 2 holders to work while in the State subject to clearly stated conditions. Students may take up employment which enables them to work up to 20 hours a week during term time and up to 40 hours a week during designated holiday periods.

Following the initial outbreak of Covid-19, it was recognised that English language students may be particularly vulnerable and face a distinct set of issues arising from the pandemic. These issues include a language barrier when accessing information, concerns surrounding their immigration conditions and the potential loss of employment. In March 2020, my Department established a specific Working Group for the English language education (ELE) sector to address these issues. This group is comprised of the sectoral representatives of students, staff and providers alongside representatives of relevant Government Departments such as the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Social Protection. It has met 12 times to date.

In the course of its work, this Working Group has published and enabled the dissemination of material for students to provide information on health advice, updates on new immigration measures as they have been introduced, and to advise them of their eligibility to apply for relevant social protection supports such as the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment. In its engagements to date, the Working Group has also addressed questions surrounding access to Government services such as Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) for students and clarified public health advice and supports for students who may reside in accommodation where social distancing and self-isolation may be challenging or not possible.

In relation to the loss of employment, the key social protection measure that is available to ELE students is the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP). The PUP was introduced by Government and made available to employees and the self-employed who lost their job on or after 13 March 2020. ELE students and their representative bodies have been advised of the details of the PUP scheme alongside their eligibility to apply for it. In addition to the PUP, and in exceptional circumstances, ELE student have also been advised where they are experiencing a financial need that they cannot meet out of their weekly income they are also eligible to apply for the Exceptional Needs Payment which is available via the Department of Social Protection.

Clarity surrounding the immigration permissions of ELE students has also been provided by the Department of Justice. As the pandemic has developed and evolved, a number of updates in respect of the status of immigration permissions for International Students have been announced. The most recent update was provided in March 2021 announcing that relevant permissions are being automatically extended to 20 September 2021 including for English language students. The conditions attached to these renewed permissions are unchanged. Therefore, ELE students may take up or continue employment on the same basis as before.

Student welfare has been the key driver of my Department’s response to the pandemic to date and my officials will continue to engage with ELE students representatives, via the ELE Working Group, to focus on student issues as this sector prepares to move towards the resumption of in-person activity, in line with public health guidelines, when it is safe to do so.

The planned establishment of the International Education Mark is intended to underpin a high quality ELE sector in Ireland that safeguards the interests of students and ensures that that the educational function of the ELE sector which is the teaching and learning of valuable English language proficiency is the mainstay of its future direction consistent with the objectives of the 2015 reforms.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

193. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration will be given to a reversion to the 12 month duration for English language stamp two visas in order to help students who work while studying in English language education schools given all English language education stamp two visas lasted 12 months until 2015 before moving to 8 months. [32397/21]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Since the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, the Minister for Justice has announced extensions to immigration permissions, including for English language students, on a number of occasions. The most recent announcement has extended relevant permissions until 20 September 2021.

The primary purpose of the Stamp 2 immigration permission is to enable non-EEA students to travel to Ireland to avail of educational opportunities and in the case of the sector in question, to study English.

In September 2014, a policy statement entitled “Regulatory Reform of the International Education Sector and the Student Immigration Regime” was launched jointly by the then Minister for Education and Skills and Minister for Justice and Equality. The document contained a series of reforms considered necessary to address significant problems in part of Ireland’s private college sector. During 2014, some 10 colleges closed their doors and over 3,000, mainly non-EEA, students were left without the education programmes for which they had paid. There were concerns as to the level of immigration abuse in the sector at that time, leading to the publication of .

On this basis, a series of reforms to the student immigration system for international education were implemented in 2015. The reforms were designed to drive real and lasting change in the sector and address abuse of the immigration regime and labour market, improve the overall quality of educational offering to international students, and improve protection and supports for learners, whilst safeguarding the strong international reputation of high-quality Irish education providers consistent with the goals of Ireland’s International Education Strategy. One key reform was the introduction of the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP), a more restrictive list of education programmes eligible for student immigration purposes.

Previously a student studying an English language programme of 25 weeks (375 hours tuition) was granted a full 12 months immigration permission. In 2015 it was agreed that this situation was no longer tenable and was regarded as contributing to some of the problems in the sector. Consequently, the general student permission for attending a 375 hour plus language programme was reduced to 8 months i.e. approximately 34-35 weeks. A non-EEA student can obtain up to three such Stamp 2 permissions studying English Language up to a maximum of two years.

This permission enables Stamp 2 holders to both study and work while in the State subject to the conditions of the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP) Scheme. Students may take up employment which enables them to work up to 20 hours a week during the traditional academic term and up to 40 hours a week during designated holiday periods. These holiday periods have been standardised as the 1st June to 31st September and the 15th December to 15th January of each year. Therefore, under current conditions, ELE students who hold a Stamp 2 immigration permission can now work in Ireland for up to 40 hours per week until the end of September.

The Department understands from engagement with provider representatives that the majority of English language students enrol on 25 week programmes that predominately operate outside of the designated holiday periods therefore facilitating their ability to work fulltime over holiday periods. However, where students have enrolled on programmes scheduled during these periods, students are obliged to continue to meet their attendance requirements, aligned with conditions for ILEP.

The planned establishment of the International Education Mark is intended to underpin a high quality ELE sector in Ireland that safeguards the interests of students and ensures that that the educational function of the ELE sector which is the teaching and learning of valuable English language proficiency is the mainstay of its future direction consistent with the objectives of the 2015 reforms.