The Chinese authorities have not questioned the Government's decision to impose tighter visa rules on students coming to Ireland to study English, the Minister for Education, Ms Hanafin, has said.
From April foreign students, who currently can work for 20 hours a week, will not be able to work in the Republic unless they are studying on a course lasting longer than 12 months.
However, English-language schools have alleged that the changes will decimate the numbers of Chinese students travelling to the Republic.
Speaking in Shanghai yesterday afternoon, the Minister said not one Chinese minister had raised any problems about the move.
However, she said, the Government will move over coming months to grant exemptions to students studying in approved language schools.
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform had "plenty of evidence" that some bogus language schools were in operation, the Minister said.
"Some of their students are just coming here to work. These schools have then granted bogus accreditations.
"We don't have the power to close them down, but we do have the power to restrict the number of students coming to them," said Ms Hanafin.
The Government was determined to ensure that Irish schools, colleges and universities offered a quality service to foreign students.
"We have to clamp down on abuses if we are going to protect high standards and protect the schools that are offering quality education," she told The Irish Times.
