Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 November 2014
43. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Education and Skills to outline her plans to regulate the education of non-EU nationals in the Irish education system, as it appears to be run by a system of agents who are largely non-resident and therefore exempt from VAT, and who entice students into our education system with unregulated payments and commission leading to poor outcomes for students and colleges. [45095/14]
View answerA number of reforms which I announced together with the Minister for Justice and Equality on 2nd September are currently being implemented to strengthen the regulation of international education in Ireland. The purpose of these reforms is to protect the educational and consumer interests of genuine international students, to tackle abuse of the labour market and the immigration regime and to safeguard the strong international reputation of high-quality Irish education providers. These reforms have three main pillars. The first pillar is a new list of eligible programmes, the second pillar is an enhanced inspection and compliance regime and the third pillar relates to changes to the operation of the work concession. It is expected that these reforms will significantly enhance the overall quality of Ireland's international education offering, reduce the risk to our reputation from the activities of lower quality operators and enhance the net benefits of internationalisation to the labour market and the wider economy.
