Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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525. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of deportation orders that have been made to date for each of the past five years; the number of people who have actually left the country as a result of a deportation order being issued in their name for each of the past five years; the number of people who have entered the country on false documents for the same timeframe; the number of people who have entered the country without any documents; the average success or failure rate of those who enter the country on false or no documents; and the average application processing time for these types of applicants. [24088/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I can advise the Deputy that deportation and removal processes are an essential part of any immigration system. It must be acknowledged that those who do not have a legal right to remain in this country must remove themselves from the State. A person subject to a Deportation Order has no legal basis to remain in the State. Their case to remain in the State has been considered in detail and all available appeals processes have been exhausted.

The number of Deportation Orders issued and effected is listed in the table below.

*DOs effected are confirmed deportations.

The numbers for DOs effected does not take account of individuals who have left the State without informing my Department. It is the case that many individuals who are subject to Deportation Orders leave the State without notifying the relevant authorities and this particular category of individual is difficult to quantify.

The Border Management Unit (BMU) of my Department has responsibility for frontline immigration duties at Dublin Airport only. Other ports of entry are the responsibility of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB). Immigration officials conduct passport checks, and run operations as required, to ensure passengers arriving in the State are properly documented in accordance with Section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004. Valid travel documentation is required by carriers for boarding a flight to Ireland. However, some passengers are arriving at passport control without documents.

The Border Management Unit and the GNIB are working closely with airlines on a range of measures to ensure that passengers have such documentation when boarding. Border Management Unit officials are available 24/7 to assist airlines with queries they have in relation to immigration matters. If a person cannot produce a valid passport, or other equivalent document, then the Immigration Officer will arrange for the person to be referred to the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).

The table below sets out the numbers who were refused leave to land having arrived undocumented, or with false documents (or documents that were not their own) between 2018 – 30 April 2023.

*Data for previous years is not available. Data recording was modified during 2020 to distinguish the cohort of arrivals arriving undocumented from the total number refused leave to land.

The State is required to examine the application of anyone who presents at the borders of the State, or is in the State, and indicates that they wish to make an application for international protection. This is in accordance with our obligations under international and EU asylum law and the Government takes those commitments very seriously.

My Department takes all necessary steps to manage the international protection process efficiently and effectively, while ensuring the integrity of those processes is maintained at all times. The International Protection Office (IPO) of my Department is responsible for examining all international protection applications received. The staff of the IPO are independent by law in the exercise of their international protection functions.

The establishment of an applicant’s identity and nationality is an important feature of every immigration process and this is especially so in the context of persons who enter the Irish State for the purposes of making a claim for international protection. Each application for international protection is examined in detail on its individual merits, taking all factors into account.

The International Protection Office (IPO) does not collate statistics relating to applications for international protection based on whether such applicants were refused leave to land, or whether a person had valid documentation upon arrival at a port of entry.