Written answers

Tuesday, 29 July 2025

Department of Justice and Equality

Immigration Policy

Photo of Cormac DevlinCormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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2105. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to provide a detailed report on the Immigrant Investor Programme; the number of applications received by the Department since the programme’s inception; a list of all approved applications, with the date of approval, the relevant townland(s), and the amount invested; a list of all rejected applications, including the date and the reason for rejection; the number of applications still outstanding; the expected timeline for assessing and processing the remaining applications, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43361/25]

Photo of Cormac DevlinCormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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2106. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to detail the number of staff assigned to the section of the Department responsible for processing applications under the Immigrant Investor Programme, in each year from 2018 to date in 2025, including a breakdown by grade; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43362/25]

Photo of Jim O'CallaghanJim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 2105 and 2106 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government agreed to close the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) to further applications from 15 February 2023. Since the closure of the programme, my Department has continued to process remaining applications for consideration and final decision.

The IIP is fundamentally a programme for investors, not for projects or funds. The investor is the primary applicant and makes an application for an immigration permission and nominates a proposed project as part of that application.

All projects which IIP applicants are investing in are examined in detail by an Independent Evaluation Committee, comprising of officials from my Department, the Department of Finance, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. This examination process involves an assessment of the viability of the project; employment outcomes associated with the proposed investment; and the overall benefit to the Irish State. The Committee makes a determination as to whether a project is suitable for IIP investment and if deemed suitable, the project and individual application(s) associated with it will be submitted to me, as Minister, for final approval.

My Department does not publish the details of individual IIP applications, and a geographical breakdown of project locations is not available.

There are a range of factors that can result in the withdrawal or rejection of an application, such as incomplete documentation, change in circumstances and failure to make investment within the requisite period. My Department does not collate data in the manner requested by the Deputy in relation to individual reasons for withdrawn or rejected applications.

The criteria applied when assessing applications under the IIP is set out in the guidance published on my Department's immigration website at: www.irishimmigration.ie/coming-to-live-in-ireland/i-want-to-invest-in-ireland/

At present, there are approximately 90 IIP project proposals and 1600 investor applications undergoing, or awaiting, consideration. The IIP Unit is committed to ensuring that all applications will be examined on their merits and will endeavour to conclude all decisions in a timely manner.

Given the volume of applications on hand, it is expected to take a number of years to process all remaining categories of application to final decision.

Table 1 below provides a breakdown of IIP applications received, approved and the value of investments since the inception of the programme to the end of Q2 2025.

Table 2 shows the total value of investment based on the investment type and the number of associated approved IIP applications from 2012 to the end of Q2 2025.

Table 3 details the number of staff assigned to the IIP and STEP (Start-up Entrepreneur Programme) Unit of my Department from 2018 to the end of Q2 2025.

Table 1: IIP Applications received and approved 2012- 2025 (30/6/25)

Year Applications received Approved applications Value of Approved Investment
2012 5 2 1,500,000
2013 18 16 12,200,000
2014 30 5 2,950,000
2015 75 67 36,800,000
2016 334 33 18,750,000
2017 324 360 244,200,000
2018 423 145 128,750,000
2019 443 222 194,200,000
2020 339 267 186,200,000
2021 258 264 185,700,000
2022 1316 307 206,900,000
2023 1954 259 189,500,000
2024 315 535 314,300,000
2025 (Q2) 63 208 146,300,000
Total 5897 2690 1,868,250,000
*Approvals issued in any year may relate to applications which were received in previous years due to the time taken to process applications.

**Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing

Table 2: IIP Approved Investments 2012 - 2025 (30/6/25)

Investment Type Total Applications Approved Total Value of Investment
Enterprise 1037 900,000,000
Investment Fund 466 449,500,000
REIT 6 12,000,000
Endowment 1125 452,800,000
Bond & Mixed Investment 56 53,950,000
TOTAL 2690 1,868,250,000
*Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.

Table 3: Breakdown of staff assigned to the IIP/STEP unit from 2018 - 2025 (30/6/25)

- 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
AP 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
HEO 2 3 3 3 2 2 2 2
AO 1 1 1 1 1
EO 2 3 4 4 3 3 1 1
CO 4 7 7 6 6 5 5 4

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