Sir, – I refer to the issue of income levels for US retirees to Ireland, raised by a correspondent to The Irish Times (Letters, August 3rd).
Over the past number of years there has been a steady stream of applications from retired persons seeking to come and live in Ireland. In order to bring greater clarity and consistency to the area and to take account of some of the economic issues involved, guidance was published on the website of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service in March 2015.
This guidance includes financial requirements with the aim of ensuring that applicants intending to retire to Ireland have sufficient funds to meet all reasonably foreseeable expenses without recourse to publicly-funded services. This includes their being able to provide their own accommodation and cover any medical costs, either via private insurance or personal funds. The thresholds in respect of income, etc, take into account potential future healthcare needs including residential nursing care. Requirements of this nature are the norm in many other EU member states, Australia, the US, Canada and the UK.
The guidance does not affect people who were approved for what is in effect long-term retirement migration prior to that. In the light of the experience gained to date, a review of the retirement policy is currently underway. A public consultation will be launched in the coming weeks. – Yours, etc,
NIALL COLGAN
Department of Justice and
Equality, Dublin 2.