A program in Ireland which offered visas to non-EU nationals in exchange for investment in the Irish Republic has been shut down, according to a statement released by the the Irish Department of Justice, on Tuesday.

The statement said that starting on Wednesday, Dublin would no longer be accepting applications for the Immigrant Investor Program (IIP), for what were widely referred to as “golden visas.”

The IIP was a program which would grant Irish residence to non-EU nationals if they could show they had a personal wealth of €2 million ($2.1 million) or more, and they invested at least €1 million in Ireland for at least three years. Overall the program had generated €1.25 billion in investment in Ireland since it began in 2012, according to government data.

A review of the program showed it was dominated by Chinese nationals, with some 1458 out of the 1547 applications, which had been approved through June of last year, having been granted to citizens of China. It was this revelation which led Justice Department officials to recommend halting the program temporarily, according to a report in the Irish Times.

In announcing the halt, Justice Minister Simon Harris said, “It is important that we keep all programs under review including any implications for wider public policy, such as the continuing appropriateness and suitability of this program for cultural, social and economic use.”

He noted that applications which were already approved are unaffected, and about 1500 applications which were submitted before February 1st will continue to be processed.

Countries the world over use the so-called “golden visas” to attract foreign investment. However the practice comes with inherent risks in terms of national security, money laundering and tax evasion.

Ireland’s halting of its program follows a similar decision a year ago by the UK, which halted its own program over national security concerns, after it was found to be growing increasingly popular among Russian nationals.