Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 14 Oct 2003

Vol. 572 No. 3

Written Answers. - Deportation Orders.

Richard Bruton

Question:

469 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of cases of deportation of non-nationals per month over the past two years; and the number of public servants or members of the Garda Síochána involved in this work. [23195/03]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

It should first be explained that the making of a deportation order is the responsibility of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform while the effecting of such orders is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner.

A deportation order is made by the Minister under the terms of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended. Specifically, the order is made following consideration of the 11 separate criteria as set out in section 3(6) of that Act and having regard to section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996 – prohibition of refoulement. Once an order is made it is served on the person, usually by registered post, with an instruction to report to the Garda National Immigration Bureau at a specified garda station at a specified time. The enforcement of the order, including the escorting of the deportee to the destination country, is an operational matter for the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Details of deportations of non-nationals per month over the past two years is contained in the following table:

	2001	2002	2003
January		29	53
February		58	51
March		74	43
April		35	26
May		42	49
June		44	38
July		68	51
August		39	47
September	22	52	39
October	25	27
November	57	26
December	38	27

There are currently 62 staff working in the repatriation section of my Department. These staff deal with the consideration of the 11 separate criteria as set out in section 3(6) of that Act; the issue ofrefoulement as set out in section 5 of the Refugee Act 1996; the serving of deportation orders; the maintenance of statistics; the handling of correspondence and queries; and the handling of numerous court challenges dealing with deportation orders and other matters in the immigration area.

There are 74 gardaí of all ranks attached to the Garda National Immigration Bureau at 13-14 Burgh Quay, Dublin 2. The Garda National Immigration Bureau is responsible for border controls, the registration and supervision of non-nationals legally resident in the State, removal from the State of persons subject to deportation orders and transfer to other member states under the Dublin Convention, as well as persons coming within the terms of section 5 of the Immigration Act 2003.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau is also tasked with the implementation of the Illegal Immigrations (Trafficking) Act 2000 and the Employment Permits Act 2003. All members of the Garda National Immigration Bureau are concerned with all aspects of the bureau's work and none is exclusively involved in the deportation of persons.