Seán Sherlock
Question:459. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons who have availed of assisted voluntary return following service of a deportation order in each month since March 2020. [43433/20]
View answerTuesday, 15 December 2020
Questions (459)
Written answers
Any third country national who has no basis to remain in the State can seek to return voluntarily to their country of origin. That option is made formally available in the context of persons issued with a notification of intention to deport, under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 (as amended), and persons who have had their international protection and permission to remain claims refused under the processes provided for under the International Protection Act 2015.
In both instances, the option of voluntary return is available in the period before a deportation order has been made. By the time the process moves on to the making of a deportation order, the time period for the exercise of the voluntary return option will have expired.
In the period since March 2020, 77 persons were assisted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to return to their countries of origin as part of a formal voluntary return arrangement.
I can also advise the Deputy that in none of those cases had a deportation order been made.