42 South African nationals, including 15 children, deported from Ireland

The justice department said the costs for the provision of the aircraft for this operation was €735,000 for a return flight.

Forty-two South African nationals, including 15 children, were deported from Ireland following an operation in Dublin.

The operation, carried out by the Department of Justice and gardaí, used a charter flight which left Dublin airport at 3.30pm on Thursday and arrived in South Africa at around 4am.