Opening a branch for an overseas educational institution in Ireland

Hi,

A reputable University in Science and Technology overseas is looking to have an office in Ireland to gain access to the academic expertise in Ireland and invite leading professors to speak to their students as part of their academic program.

Is it possible to know what are the requirements to open such an office in Ireland and which body should license this branch in Ireland ?

Please note , the office in Ireland will not target students in Ireland but only inviting academic calibers to speak to the university students abroad .

Thanks in advance

I don't see that the activities that they propose to undertake require a license in Ireland.

They'll need to do all the obvious things — hire premises, register with Revenue as an employer in relation to the office staff and any other employees at the Irish office, etc. From what you say they won't actually be selling any services in Ireland so the question of whether they might be liable to VAT or Corporation Tax in relation to their Irish income won't arise — they won't have any Irish income.

Where is the University located, and where will funds be transferred from, to pay costs incurred in Ireland?

Depending on location and origin of funds, you may run into issues with opening or operating an Irish bank account

The origin of the university is in the Middle East where the fund of hiring premises & staff will be coming from & not expecting to have any income from Irish customers

If you intend to open an Irish bank account, it would be prudent to begin the process now. It will take time, and there'll be lots of information requirements, regarding ownership, where the funds that are transferred into Ireland originate from, etc.

Ireland seems like a very small market to justify such an investment. Particularly for a single university. How many such visits are envisaged?

TES run a platform recruiting thousands of teachers for roles in more than 25,000 schools and collages all over the world from a UK business with satellite offices in 4 other countries. Why the need for a physical presence here for a much smaller undertaking?

Ireland seems like a very small market to justify such an investment. Particularly for a single university

Click to expand...

Strongly suspect that the Institution in the Middle East is looking to build its profile.
Having "guest" lecturers from a "reputable" Irish institute probably would help this.
"Buy respectability" so to speak.

They're not buying respectability; they're buying talent. There's a big investment in education going on in many Middle Eastern countries. The higher education market is a very international one, both for students and for staff, so newly established institutions who aren't part of existing networks need to devote time and resources to attracting overseas students and staff and building up networks and relationships with overseas institutions.

Bear in mind that all the Universities are in competition for International students at the minute. A non-EU student can be worth €20k to €50k a year to an Irish university in terms of fees they can charge etc. All of the Irish 3rd level institutes have recruitment contracts with overseas firms to attract non EU students, especially from China, the Middle East and India to Ireland. Hence, there would need to be a compelling case for an Irish University to give permission for their staff to travel to a Middle East University to do anything.

Many of the Universities in Ireland also already have agreements in place with overseas Universities for things like Erasamus schemes.

TomEdison said:

They're not buying respectability; they're buying talent. There's a big investment in education going on in many Middle Eastern countries. The higher education market is a very international one, both for students and for staff, so newly established institutions who aren't part of existing networks need to devote time and resources to attracting overseas students and staff and building up networks and relationships with overseas institutions.

Click to expand...

But how many of those need permanent staffed offices in Ireland to achieve that?

Leo said:

But how many of those need permanent staffed offices in Ireland to achieve that?

Click to expand...

Not many, I would think. If you just want to invite the occasional Irish academic to give a guest lecture in Abu Dhabi, you don't need an office in Ireland to do that. As I say, academia is a very international market, and prominent academics get invited all the time to give guest lectures, or spend sabbaticals, or whatever in other countries.

This works off an academic network. People meet one another at conferences and colloquiums; they colloborate at a distance on articles or book chapters; they act as extern examiners for other universities; etc. By these means they develop relationships with foreign academics and foreign universities. So they have little need for "branches" in other countries. If universities do open a branch overseas, it's often because they want to offer a "study abroad for a semester!" opportunity to their own students, or they want to leverage their already prestigious brand and offer courses to (wealthy) locals in another country.

What the OP describes is pretty unusual, but it might make sense for a recently-founded stablished university with no established reputation, not much existing international connections, but a lot of cash. They might see a base overseas as a way to accelerate their integration into the network — it'll raise their profile; their own academics can use it as a local base to engage in some sustained networking efforts; etc.