Language Schools
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-27
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

The Minister of State's colleague, the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy James Lawless, told a media outlet at the end of last month that some English language schools were acting as tick-box exercises to allow people to get work permits. Is that an assertion the Minister of State agrees with? On what basis has that assertion been made?
If other Ministers have been making similar assertions and that were the view of the Government, it would be incomprehensible that the Minister of State would stand over there being four inspections in a year. It is clear the level of inspection of language schools is nowhere near what people would expect if the issue were as serious, or the Government were taking the issue as seriously, as has been suggested.
Have any education providers, as a result of inspections, been removed from the ILEP for failing to comply with immigration requirements?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-27