Mr. Noel Waters:

Yes. There are two strands to deportation as practised. The first strand are people who, for example, arrive in Ireland off a flight today at Dublin Airport who do not have the appropriate documentation and who are refused leave to land and returned. This happens pretty much immediately. In some cases, depending on the flights, it may be the following day. Last year, approximately 4,000 people who attempted to enter the State were returned on this basis. Primarily the great majority of them were on the basis of fraudulent documents. Some, approximately 400 people, applied for asylum at the airport and they were allowed into the country on this basis.

The second strand are people who have been through the entire asylum process, or who have been detected living illegally here, and have no permission to remain. They had their cases assessed and judged and they were asked to leave the country.