Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2017
528. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number and value of investments made in the area of social and affordable housing by investors under the immigration investor programme since 2012; and his views on whether the doubling of the applications threshold from €500,000 to €1 million in 2017 will deprive the State of investment in social housing projects run by AHBs. [46454/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) was introduced in April 2012 to encourage inward investment to create business and employment opportunities in the State. Investment in social housing projects under the IIP only became a significant feature of the scheme from mid-2016. Some €71.0m has now been approved in respect of Social Housing projects with applications valued at an additional €9.0m under consideration. There has been no reduction in the number of applications received in the Social Housing area since the required investment in an enterprise project was restored to its original amount of €1.0 million from December 2016, If anything, interest is gaining strength.
The IIP continues to be monitored by my officials to ensure that the programme encourages inward investment to create business and employment opportunities in the State and provide insights that might inform the future direction and management of the programme.
