Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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147. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of schemes that allow foreign investors achieve residency here; the criteria determining whether a foreign investor can gain residency; if she is reviewing this scheme; if there are any changes to be implemented in the future; and if she is seeking to change investment limits and value addition criteria in the future. [9718/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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My Department operates a scheme of this nature called the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) under which foreign nationals who make an investment meeting certain criteria can qualify for Irish residence. Details of the IIP are set out on the website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service at. In brief the IIP is open to those making one of the following minimum investments:

- €1m in an Immigrant investor bond;

- €500k enterprise investment in Ireland involving job creation or retention;

- €500k in an investment fund regulated by the Central Bank and meeting the investment criteria of the IIP;

- €2m invested in a Real Estate Investment Trust;

- A mixed investment consisting of a €500k immigrant investor bond and a residential property purchase of €450 or more;

- An endowment of €500k.

The investors have also to satisfy the personal requirements of the IIP (e.g. character source of wealth etc.) Applications are considered by an Evaluation Committee consisting of representatives of my Department, the Department of Finance, the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland. The committee then makes a recommendation to me.

A scheme of this nature develops over time and I anticipate further changes. The Evaluation Committee will be making recommendations in that respect in the coming months.