Department spends €3.5m on 10 deportation flights in 18 months

A charter aircraft used in the largest deportation in the history of the State which flew from Dublin Airport last November. A total of 52 Georgian nationals were removed, each escorted by Garda personnel. 171 gardaí travelled on the aircraft, with additional garda units involved in the wider ground operation, alongside medics, an interpreter and an independent human rights observer. Picture: Chani Anderson

The cost of deportation flights has hit €3.5 million since February 2025.

Figures supplied to the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by the Department of Justice include a fee of over €8,000 on an emergency landing in Nigeria, and €13,000 for plane de-icing during a flight to Poland and Lithuania.

The letter says that in a total of 10 flights carried out since last year, some 377 failed asylum seekers have been deported, accompanied by a total of 988 members of An Garda Síochána. 

The letter says that these gardaí are trained by the EU's FrontEx system (the EU border agency), and that the rationale for the number of Garda escorts on the flight is "linked to the risk posed by the passengers".

"A deportation is a forced return, and persons who are being returned will often not co-operate with the process — hence the need for a higher number of escorts. 

"For example, a higher number of returnees with criminal backgrounds will warrant a higher number of Garda escorts, as will a higher number of adult returnees," the department correspondence says.

It adds that a back-up team is "required to facilitate the smooth running of the operational elements of the charter in the case of an unanticipated event, such as a garda escort being injured or if there is a medical emergency". 

Each flight also contains a doctor and a paramedic.

In a letter to PAC, the department's secretary general Donncha O’Sullivan said much of the overall figure can be recouped under the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). 

He says 75% of the Garda expenditure is likely to be recouped up to the end of 2027, expected to be around €3.45 million. 

The department will also seek reimbursement of 75% of its spending on chartering flights and commercial returns, where necessary. 

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In three cases — two flights to Georgia and one to Romania — the flights operated on a one-way basis, with returns coming via commercial airlines.

The most expensive flight thus far was a return of 63 people to South Africa in February of this year, which cost €719,642.25 and carried 133 gardaí.

In addition to gardaí and medical personnel, each group of returnees was accompanied by a Human Rights Observer (HRO).  The total cost for this service for nine of the operations was €36,307.18.

• Paul Hosford, deputy political editor