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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Obviously the amount of funds is significant. Is there a formalised link with the Central Bank on the type of funds being used for the investment purposes? What has the Department of Justice and Equality done to ensure these funds are proper and correct in terms of the licensing process?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: What raised the concern from the Central Bank's perspective with regard to a potential fund being used for an investment? There was obviously a mismatch between the visa and the fund, and Mr. Kirrane will clarify this. This seems to be the anomaly mentioned.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: An internal review commenced last year. An interesting recommendation was that other recommendations could have been made about the scheme but they were outside the scope of the report. It stated that it is clearly important that the integrity of the immigration system is maintained and that this should be a priority regardless of economic impact. Is there anything that perhaps was not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Why does Mr. Kirrane think it mentioned that? Last year there was a refusal to publish the report. Who made that decision?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Why has the report been published now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: The report should have been published, even if it calls for a further review. It recommends the following:Review the definition of Enterprise for the purposes of the Enterprise Option. This option seems to be more related to infrastructure development rather than Enterprise support. This may have implications for the pricing and risk structure of the programme. What has been done to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: The internal review recommended a further review. What are the terms of reference for the external review that is being commenced? Who will conduct the review?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Why does Mr. Kirrane believe that might be the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: No. Why would that question arise in the review?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Is Mr. Kirrane concerned about the concentration of investment? He indicated that 313 investments out of a total of 329 came from China. Is he concerned that there has not been a greater spread of investment from other countries?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: The United States and Canada had to review similar schemes they provide in the context of the level of investment that comes from China. The OECD has produced a report that reflects similar concerns. Will the external review reflect the lessons that have been learned in other countries?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: I have a couple of questions on the final part of Mr. Kirrane's statement. He mentioned the number of applications and the delay in processing them. I represent a constituency where many people have applied for various types of visas, citizenship and so on. Have efforts been made to beef up the number of staff working in the unit? I acknowledge Mr. Kirrane's comment that he is trying to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: I am aware of cases involving people who wish to come here for family weddings, communions or other events and genuinely intend to return to their place of origin but despite documenting everything properly, they miss the event because of a delay. It is very difficult for families when that happens.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Yes, I know.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: The service gets confirmation about the onward investment before any visa is granted. Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Discharged from the fund.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: After investment in the fund, is the fund invested for the reason for which the visa is granted? Surely that is part of the scheme.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: I do not mean that. I refer to where the investment fund is in place for a particular person, and where it may be licensed and the visa may be granted. Does the service ensure that the onward investment from the fund has occurred or is occurring before granting the visa?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Immigrant Investor Programme and International Protection Applications: Discussion (11 Jul 2018)

Jack Chambers: Exactly.