Government may cut number of student visas for English language students, minister says
(Left to right) Minister for justice Jim O’Callaghan and European Commissioner for internal affairs and migration Magnus Brunner at Government Buildings in Dublin today. Mr Bruner said Ireland is 'well prepared' for the introduction of the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is due to come into effect next June. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos
The Government is considering a reduction of the number of student visas provided for English language students, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has said.
Mr O’Callaghan said the Government is able to control the level of migration into the country through the visa system.
“International protection is probably a small percentage of the number of people who come into the country,” he said.
“I think we hand out approximately 60,000 or so student permissions each year. It is an area we are looking at, particularly in respect of English language schools.”
Mr O’Callaghan said no decisions have been taken, but engagement has taken place with higher education minister James Lawless on the matter.
The justice minister said work is ongoing across Government to cut down on the level of migration into Ireland, but it is hard to predict the yearly figures coming in through the international protection system.
“Last year, 18,500 people applied. We’re looking at probably just less than 13,000 this year.”
He said new measures that would be considered by Cabinet on Wednesday would have an impact on reducing the number of people seeking international protection here.
Asked about the possible impact of the UK’s new asylum system and whether the Government would consider introducing a time limit on leave to remain, Mr O’Callaghan said he first wanted to assess the consequences of the British government’s proposals.
“In terms of re-assessing applications, that’s going to result in there being more administrative demands on the system but it’s something I’ll keep aware of,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
He added that what the UK is doing “mirrors” what is happening in other EU jurisdictions. Mr O’Callaghan made the comments during a visit by the EU’s migration commissioner to Dublin on Monday.
During his time in Ireland, Magnus Bruner visited the Citywest international protection accommodation hub. He described the facility as “best practice”.
Asked what he believed were examples of this best practice, Mr Bruner said: “What I saw today is that its working very effectively, well prepared. The whole system that we saw, and the way it is organised, was just very professional and very humane as well.”
Mr Bruner said Ireland is “well prepared” for the introduction of the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is due to come into effect next June.
Ireland has previously confirmed it would be opting into the pact, with preparatory work underway for its implementation next year.
One of the key aims of the pact is to improve burden-sharing of asylum applications across the EU, due to some member states receiving a disproportionate number of international protection applicants.
Ireland would be required to either relocate asylum seekers from other countries, or make a financial contribution to an EU-wide fund.
Ireland could pay up to €13m into the EU fund instead of taking in 648 asylum seekers every year.
Other measures include a three-month deadline for asylum application decisions, as well as the housing of international protection applicants without documents in designated facilities.
It will also see the expansion of the categories of migrants who will be fingerprinted and checked against the Eurodac database when they arrive.
Mr O’Callaghan said, based on a pilot project being run in Citywest, decisions were being reached within the three-month timeframe.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
