Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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103. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of undocumented persons deported from Ireland in the past 12 months to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2745/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service of my Department 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.

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.

There were 428 persons deported from the State in 2016. Of these, 367 were failed asylum seekers and 61 were illegally present in the State. In addition, provisional figures show that 4,127 persons were refused entry to the State in 2016. Of these, 396 were subsequently admitted to pursue a protection application.