Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I very much appreciate Deputy Eoghan Murphy's input. I note he has already had several conversations with the Minister in this respect. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and for inviting me to outline to the House the future direction of the Government's policy in this area. As indicated previously to the House, there is scope for the Department to play a more proactive role in the national recovery effort. An early indication of this commitment was clearly displayed on 11 May when the Minister, Deputy Shatter, announced the introduction of a visa waiver programme to provide an impetus to the tourist sector by allowing nationals of certain specified countries who obtain a short-term visa for the United Kingdom to visit Ireland without the need to obtain a separate Irish visa. It has been our view for some time that we need to ensure our visa regulatory framework does not act as a barrier to expanding our tourism industry or as a disincentive to potential visitors to the State. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, is pleased to be able to provide practical assistance in this regard.

Other initiatives undertaken by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in recent times have involved changes to the immigration arrangements for several categories of migrants to ensure more transparent and appropriate rules and, in particular, the ongoing reform of the student immigration system to assist the development of Ireland's high quality international education services industry.

In the area of entrepreneurship and investment, the Minister agrees with the Deputy that the current business permission scheme operated by the Department through the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service needs a major overhaul. The current scheme, which has been in operation for several years, has been reviewed by the Department and it is considered to be insufficiently flexible in several areas, including the financial investment threshold and the employment targets. In this regard the Department's analysis concurs in many respects with the Deputy's views. Furthermore, the existing system does not cater for the needs of innovation start-up enterprises which will often initially employ only the principals. In addition, at present we do not have an immigration regime that caters for high net worth individuals who are willing to make a significant investment in the country in return for being allowed to reside here. Most other countries have such schemes in place and we need to be competitive. Even a small number of additional investments and enterprises attracted to Ireland could have a significant impact.

The purpose of an investor scheme is to ensure that the funds available provide a clearly visible benefit to the State. The funds would need to be substantial and for such arrangements to have any meaningful impact the investment would probably need to exist for an appreciable period. The nature of the investment is one of the issues being explored at present. Accordingly, the officials have been drawing up draft proposals for the Minister that would have the effect of broadening the eligibility criteria for business persons and investors to reside in Ireland.

Migrant entrepreneurship and investment remain resources that have been insufficiently tapped into in the past and we must create what might be termed a more "diversified portfolio" within the immigration system aimed at attracting such persons to live, work and invest in Ireland. In this regard we can consider putting in place an attractive immigration package while ensuring that necessary immigration controls remain in place. The Department is currently in consultation with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and others and key agencies such as the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Forfás with a view to assessing how the immigration system might facilitate further entrepreneurship and investment here. Draft proposals are under discussion at present. A key component identified by the Department will be the role the agencies can play in vetting or recommending projects, especially those where capital requirements can be offset by significant potential.

Also, we have been reviewing what has been done in somewhat comparable immigration countries like United Kingdom, the USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand in this area. We expect to receive recommendations in the coming weeks. We do not wish to be too prescriptive at this point but there is significant scope for progress in the area. Certainly, we expect that the new arrangements will be up and running later this year.

I thank my colleague for raising this important and topical issue. Deputy Murphy's contribution has been most helpful and he may rest assured that all the points he has made will be taken on board.

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