You said..."In addition, the Irish Ministry of Justice has announced that they are in the process of finalizing rules for such persons in the near future."

In a positive or negative way? As it relates to people in your circumstance of course.

I am not privy to the inner deliberations of the Ministry of Justice but I worry that their review of immigration policy will not bode well for applicants as they have not provided any insight to the many TD's who have made formal inquiries. A political process without public input will typically default to the status quo.

Just wanted to share this very recent exchange regarding immigration policy between TD Fergus O'Dowd and Frances Fitzgerald the Minister for Justice. Not sure if we are making any progress with the Ministry so I hope you will consider signing and forwarding the petition if you have not done so already. Thanks in advance.

https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2016-06-29a.142&s=stamp+0#g143.q

Interesting that €50,000 per person per annum is higher than the average salary in Ireland. Quite frankly Ireland is implementing much the same policies that the UK has over the last 15 or so years. My opinion from the outside is they are making immigration from outside the EEA harder to try and control numbers because they can't control the EEA numbers.

Average salary was gathered from this article:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/average-annual-salary-falls-to-40775-213305.html

Totally agree, David. Seems like they want to stem the flow as much as possible from outside the EU. And the 50k ensures that anyone who does get in, can certainly pay their way. When you consider the average income is almost 10k less, and that those people have families to support, 50K seems excessive.

I don't have much to offer, but I am looking forward to changes in the policy. We don't have any issue meeting the requirements, but would like to see changes to allow for long term residency or citizenship. Also, really don't like the idea that you could be deported each year if "They" want to. I will be watching this carefully since we are still looking at a move, but will plan for that chance that we get asked to leave for whatever reason.

I really feel bad for the people that have moved to Ireland before these changes and are now asked to leave since they don't meet the new requirements, but have lived there, contributed to the communities, and have not become a burden to the state in anyway.

DFA2

Yes, Ireland have seen a lot of immigration from within the EEA. All the more reason for Ireland to welcome non-EEA persons of independent means who will make a positive contribution to the Irish economy. Creating rules that make it extremely difficult to attract such persons is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Retirees spend money, pay taxes, and do not take away jobs. Retirees do not qualify for any form of government assistance including health care. The real estate industry in Ireland, especially in the rural areas where many retirees want to live, remains in recession. A few simple and reasonable changes to immigration rules can go a long way to help Ireland continue its recovery.

Does anyone know of a non-EEA retiree who became a ward of the Irish State? Are these new rules a solution in need of a problem?

Please take a look at the petition which is basically a request to roll-back to previous rules which attracted many law-abiding and self sufficient people to move to Ireland:

https://www.change.org/p/help-the-global-irish-retire-to-ireland?recruiter=566267855&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive

Annie,

Signed the petition, I got a little excited about your email update from the petition site, just wanting to know if you have heard anything else? I looked at the INIS site, but nothing new there.

DFA2

Thanks so much CFA2. Would CFA1 also sign? Ha!

Not sure when you signed but if today maybe you could check to make sure it went through? A few people had to resign for some reason. Probably something to do with their servers.

Annie