The number of applications to the Immigrant Investor Programme has spiked in recent months

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People are seen outside of a restaurant in the Jing'an district in Shanghai on December 7, 2022. Photograph: Hector Retamal /AFP via Getty Images

Irish Times Current Affairs Editor Arthur Beesley joins Ciarán Hancock on the Inside Business podcast to discuss the recent spike in applications by wealthy Chinese citizens to the Immigrant Investor Programme. 

The scheme allows applicants, with a minimum net worth of €2 million, to obtain residency in the State, if they invest in the Irish economy.

With the number of applications almost tripling in the first nine months of the year, speculation is mounting that the scheme could be closed off. 

Later on the podcast, we hear from Economics Correspondent Cliff Taylor who discusses how rising interest rates, coupled with a slowdown in construction are impacting the housing market.