Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 647: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of the 280 deportations undertaken in 2011; if there were any circumstances in 2011 in which a deportation flight was returned to the State with the deportees still on board; the circumstances in each case if this happened; the cost to the State of the event; if the deportees were subsequently deported or still remain here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1241/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

In 2011, a total of 280 persons were removed from the State on foot of the provisions of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended). Out of that figure, 235 persons were failed asylum seekers. The overall cost of removing those 280 persons from the State in accordance with the law was slightly in excess of €1 million in 2011.

In July of 2011, a flight organised through the FRONTEX network involving the immigration authorities of Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden and France as well as from this State which was due to land in Lagos, Nigeria and Kinshasa, DR Congo, was forced to return to Dublin when the Algerian aviation authorities withdrew permission to enter their airspace mid-flight. On departure, the flight had all of the necessary paperwork in order, including all of the necessary permits to enter the various countries' airspace.

The cost of chartering this plane (€337,800 plus VAT) was fully borne by the company appointed to provide chartered aircraft and ancillary services to my Department. Some €22,000 was incurred by my Department in ancillary costs relating to this flight such as securing documentation for the returnees and sending advance parties of Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) members to Lagos and Kinshasa to ensure that landing permits and all other requirements were obtained in advance.

A total of 14 Nigerian and 12 Congolese nationals were due to be returned by Ireland to Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on that flight. Of the 14 Nigerian nationals, 6 have subsequently been deported from the State. The remaining individuals are still liable for removal and the arrangement of their removal is a matter for the GNIB.

The detailed arrangements governing deportation flights are complex and require co-operation between many agencies. These flights also require a large degree of co-operation from other countries; some of which have no diplomatic representation here. Flight plans, overflight permits, landing permits, refuelling stops, identity papers, passports or other identity-type documents and so forth all have to be agreed with the authorities in the receiving jurisdiction. In some instances, similar issues may arise when removal flights pass through third country airspace. Ensuring that all these logistical and diplomatic issues are in order is a complex task and occasionally difficulties can arise very late in the process. Every effort is taken to ensure that all risks are minimised.

The removal of individuals from the State in compliance with the provisions of the law is, by its nature, a difficult process. It is however a necessary feature of the enforcement of immigration-related legislation where individuals do not exercise the option available to them to leave the State voluntarily when they have not got permission to remain in the State, or where they may not be in a position to exercise that option. In enforcing the law in this respect, Ireland is no different to other countries who also remove individuals who have no lawful right to remain within their territory.