Language Schools
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Catherine Ardagh (FF), Dublin South-Central

I thank the Deputy for her question. The students, prospective students and teachers are in a very difficult situation. What is really important now is that we have a clear information stream going to the students so they know what is going on. The Department is aware of the current issues regarding Student Campus college in Limerick. Officials in my Department and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science are monitoring the ongoing and evolving situation. They will provide information in relation to the status of any affected students' immigration permissions in due course.
I can advise the Deputy that in order for a non-EEA national student to register for a stamp 2 immigration permission, they must enrol in and commence a course of study from the interim list of eligible programmes. Education providers such as Student Campus college are required to have met certain standards and requirements to have their programmes included on the ILEP and be accredited by recognised Irish awarding bodies. All providers must remain in compliance with the relevant criteria to retain a listing on the ILEP. Instances of non-compliance may, and have, resulted in the removal of schools from the ILEP.
When a provider is listed on the ILEP, they are required to notify my Department of matters such as, but not limited to, any changes to the ownership of the school, any change in locations or additional centres, changes to their academic management or teachers, and student capacity numbers. It should be noted that the relationship between a student or agent and any education provider is private and contractual. My Department has no function in relation to disputes between students, agents and their education providers in seeking refunds, course transfers or other rebates. Having said that, I understand that the Department of further education is very much aware of the situation and I note from the Deputy's contribution that the standard of English-language courses and our reputation as a provider of such courses is of concern.
Additionally, I can inform the Deputy that the ILEP is being superseded by TrustEd Ireland, the international education mark launched in September 2024 by Quality and Qualifications Ireland and our colleagues in the Department of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. The new mark will be awarded to higher education and English-language education providers that have demonstrated that they meet national standards. This will 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 and we expect decisions to issue in the coming months.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:14+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02