Twice as many gardaí as deportees on Government-chartered deportation flight to South Africa

Eight deportation flights last year cost a total of €2.41m and one of them had twice as many gardaí as deportees on board

The Irish Examiner was given access last year to a deportation flight to document how they are run. This is a different flight to the one described to the PAC, but it illustrates how they are policed, with gardaí occupying aisle and window seats, leaving the middle seats for deportees. Picture: Chani Anderson

There were twice as many Gardaí as deportees on a Government-chartered deportation flight to South Africa earlier this year, new documents have shown.

The Department of Justice said there were 63 people being deported, but 133 Gardaí were on board.