Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 875: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the expenditure on voluntary repatriation schemes in each of the past five years; the number who have availed of these schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30040/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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One of the options open to persons faced with the prospect of having a Deportation Order issued in respect of them is that they can seek to return voluntarily to their country of origin. Asylum seekers and irregular migrants from non-EU countries who agree to return voluntarily to their countries of origin but do not have the financial means or in some instances the necessary documentation to do so, can obtain assistance through the Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP). This Programme is funded by my Department and managed by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

I have no plans to extend this programme to those who do not face the prospect of having a deportation order issued against them. The table overleaf sets out the funding provided by my Department to IOM Dublin and the number of persons who returned to their home countries under the IOM VARRP during these past five years: