Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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A deportation order is a legal order to leave the State. Any person who has been ordered to leave the State and fails to do so is committing a criminal offence, and can be arrested without warrant if they come into contact with An Garda Síochána. Such an order remains on the person’s record permanently – it means they cannot enter Ireland again in future, and it will likely also have an impact on their ability to travel to the UK and the EU.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) carries out inquiries to confirm that people have removed themselves from the State, and works closely with my Department to enforce deportations where this is not the case.

In addition to the enforced deportations and those that are otherwise confirmed to have left, we know that a much larger number of people will have left the State without being escorted; however, as there are no routine exit checks at Irish borders, it is not possible to accurately quantify this number.

Enforced deportation operations are complex and costly. They often involve detailed detection work, detentions in custody, legal challenges, complications with obtaining travel documents, and of course, the cost of flights and related matters. Alternatives to forced removals are therefore typically preferential. Most people ordered to leave the State will comply.

Separately, my Department provides assistance through a voluntary return programme to some individuals who will benefit from assistance to reintegrate in their home country; where this type of return is effected, a Deportation Order is not required.

There is close cooperation between my Department, the Garda National Immigration Bureau and IPAS to identify people in IPAS accommodation that have been issued with Deportation Orders with a view to their removal. In practice, it is often the case that a person whose application has been unsuccessful will no longer be residing in IPAS accommodation at the point at which their case is finalised, and in some cases will have left some time previously.

The below table sets out the number of DOs issued each year for the years 2019 to 2023 and to date in 2024; and the number of DOs enforced by GNIB. To date in 2014 513 Deportation Orders have been signed, 330 of which have already been issued; the remainder will issue in due course.

Year	DOs Issued	Total Deportations ( GNIB Enforced Deports)	DOs otherwise confirmed (1)	DOs enforced by GNIB (2)	Voluntary Returns (3)	Dublin iii Transfers (4)	EU Removals (5)	All Returns
2019	2005	298	143	155	261	30	64	653
2020	872	140	97	43	201	15	33	389
2021	29	38	33	5	132	4	42	216
2022	270	118	92	26	91	3	37	249
2023	948	80	28	52	213	3	21	317
Jan’24	81	7	2	5	22	0	0	29
Feb’24	120	11	3	8	49	1	2	63
Mar’24	63	8	0	8	31	0	2	41
Apr’24 (To 14/04/24)	66	6	0	6	14	0	1	21

*Please note, figures are correct at time of issue, however, all statistics may be subject to data cleansing.

*During the COVID- 19 Pandemic there was a moratorium on deportations. This was effective during the latter part of 2020, 2021 and for the first 8 months of 2022. During the moratorium only persons whose presence in Ireland would be contrary to the public interest were deported. This moratorium was lifted in July 2022.

*Numbers deported may relate to deportation orders issued in a previous year.

1. Information has come to hand or by inquiry to the effect that the individual has left the state following receipt of a DO.
2. Person escorted from the state by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).
3. Persons who availed of the voluntary return programme without getting a deportation order.
4. Transfer to another EU State to have their application for International Protection examined.
5. EU Citizen removed from the State under the Free Movement Regulations (generally criminals).