Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I want to raise with the Minister of State today the issue of the immigrant investor fund and the difficulties faced by a number of charities as a result of delays in funding. I thank him for coming to the House today. All too often, we do not get the responsible Minister in the House. It is very welcome that he is here today to answer questions.

A charity in my home constituency of Wicklow, St. Catherine's Association, does incredible work. It is a voluntary association and has worked with children and young adults with intellectual disabilities for many years. It is an invaluable service for hundreds of families across and outside the county. It ensures that each child and young adult can meet their full potential and are fully included in and feel part of their community. The work the association does is so important.

It is trying to expand its functions. It has planned and has approval for building an adult day centre, an administrative and training unit and four respite homes. This will increase the valuable services it provides. It applied for immigrant investor programme, IIP, funding in April 2022 and, three years later, still has not received it. As the Minister of State can imagine, that is causing huge difficulties for the charity. It has done all of the work and has the plans and designs in place. Planning permission has been granted. The diggers are ready, the land is available but the association has still not received any information from the Department on when the funding will be provided.

In July last year, the association was told it could finally access the donor funds, which is quite a significant sum, in the hundreds of thousands. Despite being told that, there is still no sign of the money. The association is becoming very worried at this point. Can the Minister of State provide any clarity on the project or the entire scheme?

The scheme was closed but my understanding is that the process would happen as normal for all applications submitted prior to the scheme closing down. It seems to be a very long and protracted process. I understand the need for robust scrutiny but at some point it becomes a barrier and a stressful situation for these charities. There could be 100 charities in this situation. I know of another one in Kildare, as my colleague Deputy Aidan Farrelly has spoken to me about it. It is Sensational Kids and it is in dire straits waiting for the funding. It has proposed various business plans and it is waiting for this to happen. I hope the Minister of State can give us some clear indication of what will happen to the funds for St. Catherine's and whether they will be available soon. There are 250 children and their families relying on St. Catherine's for services. It provides a function that in most countries would be provided by the government. Because of this we should absolutely pull out all the stops to make sure it can provide the best service that it can, with all the support it requires from the State.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Whitmore for raising this matter today. It is important to note that as Minister of State with responsibility for migration, I do not comment on individual immigrant investor programme applications. In general terms, I can inform Deputy Whitmore that my Department does not receive or hold funds at any stage in the IIP process, nor does it have any role in the administration of an approved project or investment fund. This is a private matter between a potential investor, or investors, and a potential project concerned.

Approval of an application under the IIP is not an endorsement of a particular project. What it means is that the investor has been approved and the investment meets the objectives of the IIP. The applicant in the IIP process is the investor and not the project owner. The State has no responsibility for the performance of an investment under the programme. This is a matter for the project owner to ensure delivery of an approved project within the timeframe set out in its business plan.

The immigrant investor programme was first introduced by the Irish Government in 2012, when the struggling Irish economy needed investment, to create business and employment opportunities in the State. The programme fulfilled its purpose, and changed circumstances means that such investment routes are no longer a good fit for Ireland, or the needs of a thriving economy and society.

In recent years, I am aware that concerns have been generally expressed about the immigrant investment programme by the EU Commission, the Council of Europe and the OECD in a number of studies on border security, money laundering, tax evasion and circumvention of EU law, and that such programmes gave rise to issues of a broader public policy concern.

While I am satisfied that the IIP was operated to the highest professional standards, the combination of these factors made it timely to close off the programme. The Government agreed to close the IIP to further applications from 15 February 2023. Only the project proposals currently on hand and, by default, the individual investor applications associated with them will be processed to completion. Appropriate arrangements have been put in place for the orderly winding down of the programme. Further information on this process is included in a detailed frequently asked questions document, which is available on the Department's immigration service website.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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That is an incredibly disappointing response. It is also very confusing. In one part the Minister of State said it is a private matter between a potential investor and the project concerned and that, essentially, he has nothing to do with the administration of it. In another part, he said the immigrant investor programme was first introduced by the Government and directed us to the Department's immigration service website for information on it. Clearly there is a role here for the Government. Clearly the Government set it up and facilitated it. The Government has a responsibility to those charities which, as I said, are providing a service that the Government is unable to, or will not, provide to ensure those charities, which applied in good faith for this programme under the auspices of the Government, get the money they are due.

I understand the Minister of State cannot speak about specific charities or applicants and that is fine. This response indicates to me that the Minister of State is completely washing his hands of it. Am I to go back to this charity and tell it this has nothing to do with the Government anymore, that it is on its own, and that the programme which the Government and Fine Gael set up has been closed and there are no guarantees about the funding? This charity has made plans on the basis it was approved for this funding. It has been waiting for three years. It is still in discussions or consultations. There is still information going backwards and forwards between it and the organising entity. What am I to tell these charities? Has this absolutely nothing to do with the Government now? I can tell the Minister of State that the charities will be very disappointed if they are told the respite centre for children will not go ahead, the day care centre for adults will not go ahead, and the training centre will not go ahead. It will cause great disappointment in Wicklow if I go back and tell people a Fine Gael Minister of State has told me it has nothing to do with the Government.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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If Deputy Whitmore is quoting Fine Gael Ministers it is very important that she does so correctly.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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It is all written here.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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To continue to answer Deputy Whitmore, I am aware that applicants and projects are anxious to receive a decision on their applications. I assure her that the IIP unit in the Department is committed to ensuring that all applications are examined on their own merits and endeavours to conclude decisions in a timely manner. The IIP unit continues to communicate with projects seeking to benefit from investments made in connection with IIP applications, and more specifically with regard to how the terms of the programme apply to their particular projects, while also monitoring all of the projects for delivery and compliance with the IIP.

In the event there are serious issues of concern arising about the delivery of a project, necessary action will be taken, which may include reporting the matter to the relevant authorities, pausing the process for further investor applications associated with the project or withdrawing the approval given. Since the closure of the programme, project applications have continued to be submitted to the evaluation committee for consideration. The committee makes its determination as to whether a project is suitable for IIP investment. If deemed suitable, the project application will be submitted to the Minister for final approval. At present, there are approximately 100 IIP project proposals and 1,600 investor applications undergoing or awaiting consideration. Given the volume of applications on hand, therefore, it is expected it will take a number of years to process all of the remaining categories of application for final decision. I assure Deputy Whitmore the IIP unit in the Department is doing everything possible to progress the applications as quickly as possible.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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I would like the script for the follow-up response.

Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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We will get it to Deputy Whitmore.