Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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153. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of unsuccessful asylum seekers or illegal immigrants deported in the past 12 months with particular reference to those who had been in this jurisdiction for a substantial period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10626/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that 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, the Minister must have regard to the factors set out in Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act, 1999, 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. The length of time in the State is also one of the criteria that has to be specifically considered in all decisions to deport.

In the period April 2015 - April 2016 there were a total of 224 persons deported from the State.

In addition to those figures, over the course of 2015 a total of 3,451 persons were refused permission to land. The figures quoted are provisional and subject to change. For example, persons may be refused permission to land in the State and subsequently permitted to enter the State having made an application pursuant to the Immigration Acts or the Refugee Act 1996.