In This Section

Introduction
What is the External Review?
Phase 1 Terms of Reference
Phase 2 Terms of Reference

Introduction

The Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) is a pathway for investors to secure immigration permission to Ireland on the basis of long-term investment of a sum of money in a project that has been confirmed as meeting the needs of Ireland by the Department of Justice and other government stakeholders.

In 2018 an external review of the IIP was announced to make sure that it is operating as it is intended to.

Here, you can read more details about this review and the Terms of Reference under which it was carried out.

What is the External Review?

The IIP was launched 2012 and changes have been made several times to respond to new circumstances and requirements in Ireland and to benefit from experience gathered over those years.

A limited internal review of the IIP was completed in 2017 with the assistance of the Department’s Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service Unit (IGEES). Despite the limited nature of the evaluation, the authors acknowledged that the programme has attracted significant levels of investment, that it is difficult to evaluate fully the effectiveness of the IIP as the investments have not yet matured fully. They also acknowledged that the programme is now at a crucial stage of development. In that context, the Department decided to conduct a full external review of its operation.

The review proposed two Phases, Phase 1 to consider and review the overall policy, current objectives and future options. Following the outcome of Phase 1, Phase 2 to consider governance and oversight arrangements for the programme; the associated resource options and the risks, including financial and reputational, associated with the operation of the Programme. The scope of this phase will be determined by the outcome of Phase 1. It is for this reason that the work has been divided into 2 phases.

Phase 1 Terms of Reference

Taking into account the overall economic position of the State, OECD reports and commentary, and up to date analysis of such schemes generally:

  • Consider the overall policy of offering immigration permissions in return for investment taking into account a number of factors including, benefits, risks, including reputational
  • Review the current objectives of the programme and how the scheme has to date met these objectives in terms of employment and economic value added and overall economic impact taking into account the value of immigration permissions to the recipient

  • To bring forward options for the programme in line with overall policies and objectives.

In this regard, the approach adopted by European and other countries should be taken into consideration.

This phase of the review should be completed within two months of commencement following which a decision will be made on the recommendations from phase 1.

Phase 2 Terms of Reference

With the agreed recommendations from phase 1:

  • Consider governance and oversight arrangements for the programme

  • Consider the associated resource options and implications including taking into account the structure and membership of the Evaluation Committee, the appropriate distribution of responsibilities matched with the core responsibilities and areas of expertise of departments and agencies

  • Consider the identified risks and recommend appropriate measures to mitigate against these risk.