Justice Department on course to issue record number of deportation orders in 2025

Gordon Deegan

The Department of Justice is on course to issue a record number of deportation orders in 2025, after already g off on in excess of 700 to date this year.

New figures provided by the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan show that 703 deportation orders have been issued so far in 2025.

If the Department continues to sign deportation orders at the current rate for the remainder of the year, it will be on course to sign over 4,200 deportation orders for 2025.

This is significantly ahead of the 2,403 deportation orders issued for 2024, which was a multiple of the 857 issued for the 12 months of 2023.

In written Dáil replies to Deputy Alan Kelly TD, Minister O'Callaghan stated that last year, 1,116 people departed from the State under various mechanisms - enforced deportation, voluntary return - an increase of 252 per cent compared to the 2023 total of 317.

He said, "This year, 311 persons have had their departure confirmed through these pathways.”

Figures provided by Minister O'Callaghan show that the Georgian nationals were the top-ranked nationality deported last year at 66, followed by South Africa (19), Albania (15), Brazil (14), Algeria (7) and Nigeria (7).

“In addition to the enforced deportations and those that are otherwise confirmed to have left, a much larger number of people will have left the State without informing the authorities. However, as there are no routine exit checks at Irish borders, it is not possible to accurately quantify this number," Mr O'Callaghan said.

“My Department has taken action to significantly improve immigration enforcement measures and increase removals.

“Last week, a chartered flight to Georgia removed 32 persons who were subject to deportation orders from the State. This is the first operation conducted under the contract my Department put in place for this purpose last November. Further operations will be conducted as the year progresses," he said.

“Enforced deportation operations are complex and costly. They often involve investigations, detection, detentions in custody, legal challenges, flight costs and confirmation with the return country that the person is their citizen," the Justice Minister added.

“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. In 2024, the number of voluntary returns increased to 934 compared to 213 in 2023."

Mr O'Callaghan also said that the removal of persons who have been refused permission to remain in the State "is an essential requirement for the immigration system to work effectively and to ensure that our people have confidence in the application of our laws in this area.”