Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 September 2014
520. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of English language schools which have closed in 2013 and to date in 2014; and the number of these schools which were accredited with the Accreditation and Co-ordination of English Language Services under Quality and Qualifications Ireland. [36928/14]
View answerAs ACELS is a voluntary scheme, English Language Schools may operate outside the scheme and may close without coming to the attention of the Department or its agencies. For that reason it is not possible to provide definitive figures. For 2013, the Department is aware of the closure of a single school offering English language tuition. The school concerned had had its recognition withdrawn by ACELS in advance of its closure. The Department is aware of 8 schools offering English language tuition which have closed in 2014, none of which were recognised by ACELS at the time of their closure. However, two of those schools had recently had their recognition withdrawn by ACELS.
