Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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449. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of individuals under the age of 18 in the State who are subject to a deportation order, broken down by age cohort 0–4 years, 5–11 years, 12–18 years; if he will provide the number of individuals who have been present in the State for less than one year, for one year, for two years, and for three years or more, for each cohort, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53773/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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It is a central priority for me that Ireland’s immigration system is robust and rules based. The enforcement aspects of our laws, including deportation orders, are an essential requirement for the system to work effectively and to ensure that there is confidence in the application of our legislation in this area.

Deportations are costly and complex to enforce. It is the preferred option to return people voluntarily and my Department has a voluntary return programme to assist people to return prior to the issuance of a deportation order. A person can only avail of voluntary return before a deportation order is issued and I have increased resources into this programme to enable persons who wish to return before a deportation order is issued to them.

The number of deportation orders signed in 2024 (2,403) increased by 180% compared to 2023 (857). This year 3,035 deportation orders have been signed up to 3 October 2025.

Last year, 1,122 people departed from the State under various mechanisms (i.e. enforced deportation, voluntary return etc.), an increase of 252% compared to 2023 (317). This year 1,546 persons have had their departure confirmed through these pathways up to 3 October 2025.

So far in 2025, four charter flight operations have removed 130 people who were subject to deportation orders from the State with a further 137 removed by the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) on commercial airlines. Additionally, 42 people are confirmed as having left the State independently after a deportation order was issued. Further removals will be conducted as the year progresses.

I can assure the Deputy, that my officials aim to process families in a holistic manner and the consideration of a child’s immigration case is highly dependent on the status of their parents. Each child’s circumstances are examined in detail before a deportation order is made. If deportation orders are made against a family, the parents are informed of this and are required to engage with Gardaí to make arrangements to leave Ireland.

I recognise that an enforced removal is an unfortunate and challenging experience for a child, which is why they are carried out only as a measure of last resort when the family concerned has not removed themselves from the State. I can advise the Deputy that children have only been returned as part of family units. The children and their mothers were not detained in advance of their removal.

The preferred option is to return people voluntarily and my Department operates a voluntary return programme to assist people to return prior to the issuance of a deportation order. This programme offers families a reintegration grant to help them resettle in their home countries.

People are strongly encouraged to avail of this option and are informed of this option at each stage of the International Protection process.

I can advise the Deputy, that the length of time a child has been residing in Ireland is given careful consideration before a deportation order is made. However, this information is not recorded in a manner which allows for the extraction of the average time a child was present in Ireland before a deportation order was made against them. While a child’s known or reported date of entry is recorded on their individual records, establishing an average time would require a manual examination of each individual’s record. Such an examination would be voluminous in nature, require a significant amount of staff time and resources and could not be warranted.

At any point in time, however, a subset of those in respect of whom deportation orders have been made are resident in IPAS accommodation and I have asked that records be examined to establish if duration of residence can be collated.

The table below details the number of individuals under the age of 18 in the State who are subject to a deportation order, broken down by age cohort, please note that this information is collated by 0–13 years, and 12–17 years.

The table below details number of deportation orders made against children under the age of 18 in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 to 03 October 2025

As there are no routine exit checks at Irish borders, it is not possible to accurately provided the number of children who are currently in Ireland subject to deportation orders. While over 20 children subject to deportation orders are confirmed to have left the State during this period, it should be noted that many will have left the State as part of their family group without being escorted.