Motives behind bid to end golden passports scheme could be ‘xenophobic’ says fund boss

The Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) gives Irish residency to non-EU nationals who are worth at least €2m if they are willing to invest at least €1m in the country. The programme has brought in more than €1bn from 1,427 immigrant investors since 2012.

Ms Murphy said she has heard rumours that the scheme is currently “under review”.

“I would question the bona fides of discontinuing a programme that is so successful, having brought €1bn investment into the country, and I would worry about the motivation behind it. If Ireland were to discontinue this then I would question whether there was a xenophobic aspect to it,” she said.

She also warned that stopping the scheme would send “a bad message internationally and to investors” that Ireland will preclude them “based on their country of origin”.

Chinese nationals, mainly from Hong Kong, have accounted for most of the investors on Ireland’s IIP. Last year, 254 were approved compared to three Americans and six investors from other parts of the world.

However, there is a considerable time lag in the data due to applications taking over a year to process.

Today’s figures show 268 families have applied for the scheme and 77pc are fully processed — with 92pc of those processed in recent months American. Ms Murphy said the drop-off in Chinese interest since the start of last year is due to Britain reopening its doors to Hong Kong residents.

Ms Murphy stressed that with a global recession looming Ireland will need the investment funds.

“Ireland is in danger of being complacent, by throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The world is poised and ready for recession. We are going to need this capital badly. And Ireland needs to stand up, pull up its own boots, and say we need this investment.”

She said foreign direct investment has “pulled Ireland out of poverty” by encouraging “the best and the most innovative and creative companies to come to Ireland to make it their home, to make it their base”.

The fund, which has former taoiseach John Bruton on its board of directors, was launched in 2012 to create jobs and attract investment. However, with full employment and a booming economy, critics have questioned whether it is still needed.

“I think that is very much a viewpoint held inside the Pale. Other places, in rural Ireland, would have a very different perspective,” Ms Murphy said. “Rural Ireland needs investment and this programme is a fantastic resource.”

Much of the criticism against the IIP has followed an internal audit that found governance over the cash-for-visa scheme needed to be “significantly strengthened”.

Among the problems identified by auditors in 2019 was the failure of the Department of Justice to check on applicants and their wealth. Gardaí examined allegations of serious fraud, including claims that funds earmarked for approved projects may have been diverted.

Speaking about the findings, Ms Murphy said she fully supported increased regulation: “I think the programme should be strengthened through regulation. Everything must be transparent and subject to scrutiny and, from beginning to end, everyone should be fully accountable.”

She also called for individual investments to be pooled to save resources and for greater regulation around investors’ charity donations in conjunction with the charities regulator.

American investors joining the programme recently, Ms Murphy said, “are typically Democrat voters living in a red [Republican] state ... their view would be that the polarisation of the US hasn’t stopped with the Biden administration. They believe it is becoming more difficult to live there because you are very much defined by your politics.”

Meanwhile, 70pc of applicants have “put down roots”. The majority have a net worth of €5-€10m, and the list includes billionaires.