The Minister for Education has said steps need to be taken to stamp out cheating in the education system and strengthen Ireland's reputation internationally.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Richard Bruton outlined the details of a new bill aimed at tackling academic cheating and said it is part of the Government's plan to grow Ireland's international education to become a business worth €2.1bn.
"It is absolutely crucial if we are to do that, that we have a system of strong protection," said Mr Bruton.
"This is part of our wider plan to make Ireland's education and training service the best in Europe within a decade. And clearly standards and reputation are vital to that.
"So it is important if new abuses are coming in where essay mills, or overcoming the software protection that we know is there to prevent plagiarism, we need to make sure that doesn't take hold in our system."
Under the proposed law there will be powers to prosecute someone who provides or advertises essay mills or other services which would facilitate cheating.
A learner protection fund, which will support students to complete their studies if their college closes will also be established.
"We are going a step further to make sure that not only will the college be quality assured but if anything goes wrong the student can complete the course in Ireland," added Mr Bruton.
"This is really important if we want to increase this business. We need to give the students and their parents the confidence to say if it goes wrong they will be protected."
Currently 9% of students in Irish universities come from overseas.
Mr Bruton said he has no doubt other countries will follow suit and introduce similar measures to protect their education system.
