Irish universities and the Irish Hotels Federation appealed to government not to shut a controversial scheme offering passports in return for investment.
The Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) was closed in February by the Department of Justice after more than ten years in operation.
In a letter to the Department of Justice last year, the Irish Universities Association pleaded for the scheme to be kept open saying it had enabled "significant funding" for third level institutions across the country.
It said that with construction costs soaring, the IIP provided a "lifeline" for Irish universities requiring urgent investment in facilities.
The Irish Universities Association said the process for considering and approval of applications under the scheme was robust.
They wrote: "IIP provides an immediate, positive impact on the quality of universities' educational provision by investing in state-of-the-art, technology enabled classrooms and spaces that facilitate project-based, production-oriented learning."
In another letter, the Irish Hotels Federation said the scheme had been a "vital source of suitable funds" for their industry.
It said the Covid pandemic had hit the accommodation sector hard and many businesses were restructuring debt facilities to secure their future through upgrades, refurbishment, expansion and hiring of new staff.
The hotels federation said the scheme had in the preceding two years brought €40 million into the sector, providing "favourable finance to support hotel owners".
They said: "The IIP is of particular benefit to hotels based in rural Ireland, many of which are now in recovery mode."
A lengthy submission was also made by the Irish Diaspora Loan Fund (IDLF) which said retention of the scheme was "vital for Ireland's national interests".
It said the fund provided commercial loans to sectors including hotels, student housing, social and affordable housing, and elderly care nursing homes in regional locations.
The letter to the Department of Justice said: "Furthermore, our experience has been that, quite apart from the requisite investment under the IIP, the real benefit to Ireland is the potential to welcome credible, enthusiastic, successful professionals to the country."
The organisation said investors who moved to Ireland delivered long-lasting benefits, purchasing houses, buying cars, paying school and university fees, establishing businesses, paying tax, and creating employment.
The IDLF said its investors had included a senior official from the Obama White House, a top scientist from NASA, environmental and human rights lawyers, surgeons and finance professionals.
"All of these investors are professionals who have earned their own wealth, are risk averse, and conservative," said the letter.
"An investment through the IIP is a hugely material decision for them and they value the highly regulated, asset-backed, secure option that investing in a regulated fund such as [ours] provides them."
It said they had invested €48 million into regional, locally owned businesses in Ireland, which supported 900 jobs.
The letter added: "We have been able to provide this valuable finance to companies throughout the Covid-19 restrictions, at a time when other lenders in the Irish market have retrenched or completely withdrawn from commercial lending."
Asked about the records, the Department of Justice said the scheme had originally been opened during a time of "unprecedented economic difficulty" to stimulate investment in Ireland.
A statement said: "However, it is important that we keep all programmes under review and having taking into account both internal and external reviews including implications for wider public policy, such as the continuing appropriateness and suitability of this programme for cultural, social and economic use, the government agreed to close the Immigrant Investor Programme.
"The closure of the programme will not affect existing projects or individuals already approved under the programme. The Department will continue to monitor existing approved projects in relation to the delivery and for compliance with the terms of the Programme. Current applications on hand at the time of closure will continue to be considered."
- reporting by Ken Foxe
