Parliamentary Question addressed to the Minister for Justice and Equality

To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the percentage of asylum cases determined in each of the last three years that have resulted in the issue of deportation orders; and if she will make a statement on the matter?

Reply

I am advised by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department that arising from the refusal of an asylum application, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), a person is notified by letter that the Minister proposes to make a Deportation Order in respect of them. They are given the following options, to be exercised within 15 working days, of leaving the State voluntarily, of consenting to the making of a Deportation Order or of making representations to the Minister setting out the reasons why a Deportation Order should not be made against them. In addition, persons are also entitled to apply for Subsidiary Protection in accordance with the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006. 

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.

In determining whether to make a Deportation Order, I must have regard to the factors set out in Section 3 (6) of the Immigration Act, 1999, as amended, and Section 5 (Prohibition of Refoulement) of the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended.

This essentially means that 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. 

The percentage of asylum cases determined that have resulted to date in the issue of deportations orders in respect of 2011 was 24%, 10.7% in 2012 and 6.8% in 2013.   It should be noted that the variations in these figures are primarily related to the process leading up to making of a deportation order. Following the stage when persons are refused asylum, they can then apply for Subsidiary Protection and thereafter Leave to Remain. It is only on completion of all of these steps that the deportation order is made. Thus when the process is completed the likelihood is that the number of deportation orders in respect of asylum applications determined in the years in question will be significantly increased.