Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 June 2004
218 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the widespread abuse of the student visa programme as a device to facilitate people to come and work here. [16728/04]
View answer219 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the measures he and his Department are to take in regard to tackling the problem of bogus language schools which are being used as a cover for trafficking migrant workers into Ireland; and if his attention has been drawn to the concerns that this is leading to widespread illegality and exploitation of the workers involved. [16729/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 218 and 219 together.
My Department is fully supportive of efforts made by various State agencies, including Enterprise Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and the International Education Board of Ireland to promote Ireland as a centre of educational excellence. While my Department has an important role to play in combating abuse in the sector, that role is but one aspect of the ongoing regulatory arrangements which are necessary in order to achieve and sustain the desired objective.
There is no statutory and compulsory registration system for language schools in the State, although the English language sector is the subject of an entirely voluntary registration system operated under the aegis of the Department of Education and Science — the advisory council for English language schools. While my Department is represented on the board of that body, I cannot have responsibility for all sectors of economic activity in which non-EEA nationals are engaged. For example, I do not have responsibility for the regulation of businesses, notwithstanding that many of them rely heavily on non-EEA nationals. Similarly, the only circumstance where immigration officials have interaction with language schools is where non-EEA national students are in attendance.
It is well recognised that increased efforts to combat illegal immigration are accompanied by greater attempted exploitation of legal migratory routes — including the educational route. However, it is not the case that immigration officials have available to them a specified list of language schools by reference to which every school can be deemed to be genuine or bogus. This is compounded by the fact that new schools are being established regularly to satisfy demand and there is competition between schools for students who are here. There have also been increased efforts to support student visa applications with false documentation or information — supplied either by the students or foreign agents who are employed by schools themselves.
A rigorous regime is employed to determine visa applications and personnel from my Department are employed in the embassies in Moscow and Beijing, the latter being the primary source of student visa applications for this jurisdiction. In addition, immigration officers with the assistance of the Garda national immigration bureau's computerised information system and other specialised equipment now have the capacity to check the authenticity of passports and visas at a wide variety of locations throughout the State and to determine the number of students whose residence is based on attendance at a school. It is not simply the case that bogus schools cause problems; it is also the case that bogus students use the facilities provided by genuine schools to acquire residence in the State for purposes which are not primarily study related.
In the context of the powers vested in me for the purposes of the control of non-nationals, where evidence of a consistent pattern of abuse emerges this results in a refusal to issue visas for students who propose to attend a particular establishment.
My colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, chairs an interdepartmental group, which was established to address a range of issues connected with the internationalisation of Irish educational services and which will report to Government in due course. My officials have participated fully in that process. In addition, my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who has responsibility for labour market migration issues and the protection of workers rights, is also represented on the group.
From a legislative point of view, the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000 targets professional traffickers in human beings by creating an offence of trafficking in illegal immigrants and asylum seekers and providing a framework by which those engaging in such trafficking can be dealt with under the law. The penalty on conviction on indictment for the offence of trafficking under the Act is an unlimited fine or up to ten years imprisonment or both.
