A programme offering a visa to non-EU nationals, in return for investment in the Republic of Ireland, is to be scrapped.
Applications will no longer be accepted under the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) from the close of business on Wednesday, the Minister for Justice has confirmed.
Simon Harris said the scheme had been under review for “quite a period of time”.
He made the decision having been informed by reports from international bodies and internal and external reviews, he said.
The IIP, which was established in 2012, gives Irish residency in return for investments that support employment creation in the country.
So-called “golden visas” are offered to wealthy people from outside the European Economic Community (EEC) in return for investment.
Applicants to the Irish programme were required to have a personal wealth of at least €2m (£1.7m).
IIP candidates have to make investments totaling at least €1 million (£880,000) over a minimum of three years.
Alternatively, they could offer €500,000 (£440,000) as part of an endowment, or €400,000 (£350,000) as part of a joint endowment to a project which is of public benefit to the arts, sports, health, culture or education in the Republic of Ireland.
The applicant had to spend their own money to make the investment.
According to RTÉ, China provided a significant amount of the program’s contributions.
Mr Harris said the programme was established during a time of “unprecedented economic difficulty” to help “stimulate investment in Ireland”.
Projects that have previously received programme approval will not be affected, and the approximately 1,500 applications presently in process will continue to be considered..
The Start-up Entrepreneur Programme (STEP), launched by the Irish government in 2012, enables business owners with a creative idea to apply for a residence permit in Ireland.
It stated that this initiative would continue.