Annie,
You are correct it was the Irish Central.
DFA2
I'm going to do my best to request information on a lot of the questions that have arisen here. Should be able to find a lot of it under Freedom of Information.
One issue I can speculate on regarding some of the article's commenters talking about healthcare, a few of them may not have been referring to insurance per se more the burden put on services themselves. Understandablely, many retirees wish to live in the more rural parts of Ireland, many of which are far from hospitals, may be struggling to keep doctors in pratice and may already have a closed police station. Unfortunately, many of us tend to need more medical care as we get older so having an increased older population in these areas could put further strain on the system. Of course, the government should ensure everyone on the island has access to healthcare whenever they need it but the hospital bed saga has raged on in Ireland for years with constant complaints about people left on trolleys. It's still not right but if I myself had to pull for a reason why these changes might have happened (not an opinion of IrishCentral!) I'd say that easily could have come into it.
I confirmed with one source that if a foreigner with private health insurance receives treatment at a public hospital in Ireland, they are indeed billed for the services. Hopefully, at a rate that makes them a small profit to help subsidize their other services to Irish nationals. This immigration issue for retirees needs to make economic sense and I hope that the focus will ultimately turn to these less emotional factors.
Frances, thanks for seeking answers to the many questions people have about this issue. I think part of the problem is the rather poor communications between the Ministry (no written policies), Irish citizens (little knowledge or exposure to these issues) and non-EU retirees (not enough experience with Ireland). It seems natural that there would therefore be suspicions and misstatements. Getting past this information gap would greatly improve the dialog.
I read on another Expat site that there should be something on the Department of Justice and Equity website within the next couple of weeks on this matter, I have been to the site today, but nothing yet.
Here is the long awaited press release:
Included in the release is a link to the draft policy which can be downloaded and/or printed out:
The closing date for submissions Comments or questions to the Ministry) is Monday 31 October 2016.
Submissions may be emailed to retireesreview@justice.ie
or may be posted to
Retirees Review
Immigration Policy
Room 501(5th Floor)
Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service
13-14 Burgh Quay
Dublin 2
D02 XK70
Thanks for the update @hometoireland. It'll be interesting to see what the consider an eligible retiree. I wonder will somebody have to be of traditional retirement age, or could someone in their 30/40s of independent means, retire in Ireland.
According to the draft guidelines, retirees must be between the ages of 60-70. Not sure why younger people are not eligible. Any thoughts?
They're creating another problem by limiting it by age. Why can't a 59 or 71 year old want to retire in Ireland? You'd have to wonder why more thought isn't put into this.
First, the income levels are significantly lower than before (40k for one person, 60k for a couple but was previously 50k each). Asset requirement is lower (100k single/150k couple instead of 200k each). Also allow for some trade off between income and assets. Higher income could mean lower assets or vice a versa. Counting property in Ireland for part of the assets also is an improvement.
It does appear to be a step in the right direction.
As for age requirements. It is between 60-75. I can see that as being reasonable. If you can afford to retire at 55, you are usually in a situation where you will have assets you expect to support you, and could invest those and look at an investment visa as an option.
I submitted an email to the review committee on the proposed changes to the Non-EEA retirees policy today.