Golden visas: what we know - and still don’t know - about the scrapped scheme that lured millionaires to Ireland

For more than a decade, between 2012 and 2023, non-European millionaires could secure residency in Ireland by investing hundreds of thousands of euro into Irish business or public bodies.

Most of the millionaires who availed of the Immigrant Investor Programme, or ‘golden visa’ scheme, came from China.

In February 2023, the Government abruptly closed the scheme with only a day’s notice.

Nearly two years on, the full list of names of companies, public bodies and charities, who received €1.25 billion through the programme, remains hidden in State files.

Newly released documents now reveal Department of Justice officials warned of the need to guard against potentially “unlawful” and “unethical” practices when granting visas to millionaire immigrants through the scheme.

Irish Times Current Affairs Editor Arthur Beasley, who has been investigating the now defunct scheme for more than two years, joins the podcast to discuss the latest revelations regarding this controversial residency scheme.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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