State awards tender for charter flights to deport failed asylum seekers

A spokesperson for Justice Minister Helen McEntee said these charter flights would be used for 'removing individuals from Ireland who no longer have permission to remain in the State'.

The Government has awarded a tender for charter flights to remove people who have failed in their asylum applications.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed a contract was due to be signed next week, which will allow the Government to deport those not granted asylum from the country by charter aircraft.

A spokesperson for Ms McEntee said these charter flights would be used for “removing individuals from Ireland who no longer have permission to remain in the State”.

“Minister McEntee has significantly increased investment in the International Protection Office, resulting in a major increase in the number of decisions issued and a greater number of deportation orders,” the spokesperson said.

“Therefore, it is essential that charter flights be available for An Garda Síochána to enforce deportation orders when required.” 

The spokesperson added the new charter service would give the Government the option to “remove significant numbers of persons to specific destinations using a single aircraft”.

However, they added commercial aircraft use was still an option where large numbers of people were not being deported to one country.

The plan is now due to progress, with Ms McEntee seeking department officials to operationalise the new charter service.

It was confirmed the Government was examining such options in January, with tender documents being published, seeking to take “soundings” on charter flights for removing failed asylum seekers.

According to figures from Ms McEntee, the number of deportation orders signed up to late October was 1,792. This is up by 140% on the first 10 months of 2023.

There were 98 enforced deportations in the same period, up by 165% compared to 2023.

For voluntary returns, there has also been an increase, with 648 people leaving the country in the first 10 months. This compares to 175 during the same period in 2023.