Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú) | Oireachtas source

New figures have come to light showing that nearly 4,000 deportation orders have been overturned in the past decade. The State is now revoking more deportation orders than it is actually enforcing. The Ministers, Deputies Helen McEntee and Simon Harris, oversaw the highest number of revocations. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has already quashed 127 deportation orders this year alone. This is a complete failure of enforcement and of proper immigration control.

Aontú supports a fair and compassionate asylum system. We believe Ireland should offer refuge to those fleeing genuine war, persecution or violence, but the system must be firm and credible. That credibility is being utterly undermined when deportation orders issued after extensive legal processes, including appeals and judicial reviews, are so frequently revoked. The Government is talking tough but the numbers do not lie. In reality, the enforcement of deportation orders is weak, inconsistent and lacks transparency. This totally undermines public trust in the integrity of our immigration system. Advantage can be taken of it. Only a week ago, the Minister stated, "If there is not a consequence, it is going to mean that the system is pointless because whether [a person gets asylum] or not, [they] are staying [in the country]". The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, also denies claims that chartering deportation flights was simply an attempt by the Government to appear stricter on immigration. How can people trust this when we now know there have been more deportation orders quashed than have been actively enforced since the start of this year? We need a debate in this Chamber on that issue.