Eighty deportation orders enforced in 2023

The associated flight costs of the removal orders were €29,989.92, which includes the flight costs of escorts from the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Some 80 deportation orders were enforced in 2023, against a backdrop of more than 700 signed deportation orders, according to the Department of Justice.

The largest proportion of the enforced deportations last year concerned individuals from Georgia (18) followed by South Africa and Brazil (9) and Pakistan (8).

Some 734 deportation orders were signed up until the first week of December.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said the number of deportation orders enforced by the Garda National Immigration Bureau did not take account of individuals who have left the country without informing the department.

“It is the case that many hundreds of individuals who were subject to deportation orders have left the State without notifying the relevant authorities.

“The Garda National Immigration Bureau has reviewed a large sample of the cases from last year who were subject to deportation orders. Their inquiries suggest a very significant number of these individuals have left the State,” the spokesperson said.

Criminality

Of the 80 individuals deported in 2023, 17 involved criminality, they said.

“Deportation and removal processes are an essential part of any immigration system. It must be acknowledged that those who do not have a legal right to remain in this country must remove themselves from the State."

Separately, 21 EU nationals were removed from the State on removal orders during 2023 due to “criminality, public policy or public security”.

The associated flight costs of the removal orders were €29,989.92, which includes the flight costs of escorts from the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Those who are removed under European Communities Freedom of Movement of Persons Regulations 2015 are usually taken from prison.