Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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142. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the numbers of persons that have been returned to Somalia in the past ten years; the number of persons that have been returned to Somaliland in the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12234/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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A Deportation Order requires a person to remove themselves from the State and it is only where they fail to do so that the State is forced to remove them and enforce the rule of law. The process leading to deportation is extensive with many avenues of appeal, including judicial review in the High Court, open to persons subject to Deportation Orders.

In determining whether to make a deportation order, I must have regard to the factors set out in Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act, as amended, and Section 5 (Prohibition of Refoulement) of the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended. This essentially means that the safety of returning a person, or refoulement as it is commonly referred to, is fully considered in every case when deciding whether or not to make a deportation order i.e. that a person shall not be expelled from the State or returned in any manner whatsoever to a State where the life or freedom of that person would be threatened on account of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

I am informed by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department, that no persons have been returned to Somalia nor to Somaliland in the past 10 years.