State spends €1.6m helping migrants who ask to return to their home countries

Spending on voluntary returns last year totalled €1.61m, with nearly €695,000 spent on grants and a further €916,000 on flights and accommodation.

The number of migrants applying for help to return home almost doubled last year as the State spent more €1.6m helping people leave Ireland.

More than 2,300 people asked for assistance to go back to their own country last year, a sharp increase from the 1,249 that applied in 2024.