Exclusive: Cash-for-visas scheme faces axe as report reveals litany of failures

Investigation finds only 1,106 jobs being sustained by scheme; vast majority of 836 applications to date have come from China

Doubts are growing over the future of the state’s cash-for-visas scheme, with a critical unpublished government report finding that it has delivered few sustainable jobs and that it risks crowding out local investment.

More than €500 million has been approved under the Immigrant Investor Programme, which was set up during the recession in 2012 to stimulate employment and lure cash from overseas into the economy.

While the operation of the scheme is shrouded ...