Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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197. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of incidences of students holding an immigration stamp 2 permission that have been found to be in breach of the restrictions on working hours (20 hours per week during term time) for each of the past five years, and in 2025 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64306/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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198. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Irish immigration residence permissions issued to students pursuing educational courses in the State in 2025 to date, and in each of the past five years, by type of educational course, university or English language school, and by country of origin, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64307/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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199. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Irish immigration residence permissions issued to students pursuing educational courses which have been terminated in 2025 to date, and in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64308/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 197, 198 and 199 together.

I can advise the Deputy that international students from outside the EU/EEA are granted a permission on Stamp 2 conditions where they have enrolled on, and commenced a course listed on the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP).

Stamp 2 permissions issued by nationality and year

** Numbers reflect those required to register/renew in a calendar year. Most renewals are annual. However, there may be students that were required to register/renew multiple times in the same calendar year. These numbers per year should not be summed to an overall total but rather reflect the number required to register/renew in that calendar year.

Information regarding the educational institution a person is attending is recorded on each individual person’s file but is not available in a manner which allows detailed data to be extracted in the manner sought by the Deputy.

The primary purpose of the Stamp 2 is to provide opportunities for study in Ireland. All applicants must show that they have sufficient funds to support their stay in Ireland without recourse to public funds, or the reliance on casual employment. Stamp 2 holders may, however, engage in casual employment for a maximum of 20 hours per week during school term and 40 hours per week during holidays.

In the event that Immigration Service Delivery become aware that a student is in breach of the working hours permitted under Stamp 2 immigration conditions, they will investigate each individual case accordingly. Statistics are not available on the number of students who have had their immigration permission terminated for breaching the conditions of the scheme.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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200. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of inspections carried out of English language schools by immigration officials in 2025 to date, and in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64309/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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201. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details of all reviews and assessments that have been carried out by his Department into the quality and standard of courses provided by English language schools in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64310/25]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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202. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of inspections carried out by immigration inspectors of compliance with minimum standards of English for students applying for Irish immigration residence permissions in 2025 to date, and in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64311/25]

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 200, 201 and 202 together.

In order for a non-EEA national student to register for a stamp 2 permission they must enrol and commence a course of study from the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP).

Education providers were required to have met certain standards and requirements to have their programmes included on the ILEP and be accredited by recognised Irish awarding bodies. Providers must remain in compliance with the relevant criteria to retain a listing on the ILEP. Instances of non-compliance may result in removal from the ILEP.

My Department monitors activities and conducts inspections to determine ongoing compliance with immigration requirements and ILEP criteria. Any education provider may be subject to unannounced inspections, on-line monitoring, or random spot checks to ensure its compliance with ILEP criteria, and this includes the maintenance of records and reports. These may be requested by my Department at any time and failure to do so can result in the removal of a provider from the ILEP.

The table below shows the number of inspections carried out by my Department from 2020, up to 31 October 2025.

**Up to and including 2024, the Garda National Immigration Bureau carried out further inspections for counties within their remit before the transfer of registration functions to my Department was complete.

Inspections are only one piece of a suite of compliance activities. Once a provider is listed on the ILEP, they are required to notify ISD of matters such as, but not limited to, any changes to the ownership of the school, change in locations or additional centres, changes to their academic management or teachers, and student capacity numbers.

ILEP is being superseded by TrustEd Ireland, the international education mark launched in September 2024 by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. TrustEd Ireland is a new statutory quality mark and part of a suite of legislative measures designed to further protect international learners.

Once the ILEP is discontinued, only education providers granted authorisation to use the TrustEd Ireland mark will be eligible to recruit students from outside the EEA to English language programmes, foundation programmes and higher education programmes leading to awards within the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).

The new mark will be awarded to higher education and English language education providers who have demonstrated that they meet national standards to ensure a quality experience for international learners from pre-enrolment through to the completion of their programme of education and training. Applications are currently being reviewed for the first application cycle, which closed in March 2025. Decisions are scheduled to issue in January 2026.