The Department of Justice says 2,403 deportation orders were signed last year, an increase of 180% compared to the previous year of 2023, when there were 857 orders signed.
However, less than half that number (1,116) people departed the State last year, under various mechanisms including enforced deportation and voluntary return.
So far this year 1,599 deportation orders have been signed and again, less than half that amount (647) have departed, either through deportation or voluntary return, up to and including 30 April 2025.
So why is the actual number of people leaving the State so low?
Enforced deportations
Enforced deportations on charter flights, such as the one that departed for the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, last week, are only used by the Government as a last resort, partly because they are so expensive in terms of money and garda resources.
The Department of Justice says enforced deportations often involve investigations, detection, detentions in custody, legal challenges, flights costs and confirmation with the return country that the person is actually their citizen.
The use of chartered flights started after a contract was signed last November, with the company Air Partner Limited.
It means the Government essentially hires a whole aircraft, setting the route it will travel and scheduling it to fit their requirements.
The total expenditure under the contract with Air Partner will be based on the number of charter flights provided, the frequency of which will be determined by the operational needs of the State. A retainer is not paid under the contract.
The first flight to depart under this contract left in February this year, carrying 32 people at a cost of €102,476.
The removal flight last Wednesday was provided by Air Partner Ltd at a cost of €103,751 one-way. It was carrying 39 people, including four women and five children.
The children were all travelling as part of a family group. Returnees are accompanied on a flight by garda personnel, medical staff, an interpreter and a human rights observer.
But this is an expensive way to remove people from the country, compared to gardaí travelling on commercial flights, with smaller numbers of people being returned, as has happened in the past.
Speaking on Thursday, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said: "Before a deportation order is made, the person is offered assistance to return home voluntarily, this is the preferred option.
"In addition to enforced removals, my department is achieving significant increases in the number of people leaving voluntarily and I am asking those who are given this opportunity to avail of it."
Authorities will usually wait until a certain number of people heading to the same destination have reported to the Garda National Immigration Bureau before they will consider deportations on board commercial or chartered flights.
Enforced deportations by the State can be carried out on both commercial and charter flights.
However, there is a limit on how many deportees can travel on commercial flights and therefore the department says that charter flights are preferred because they can facilitate larger numbers of people, while also providing additional security, safety and privacy.
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Charter flight contract
The contract entered into by the Government last year with Air Partner Ltd is for three years with a possibility to extend it twice by one year, giving it a potential lifespan of five years in total.
The Government says it cannot yet give a full figure on the cost of the initial three-year contract.
In a response to RTÉ, the Department of Justice said the frequency of such flights "will be determined by the operational needs of the State. References to the contract costing the State €5 million relate to the potential value of the contract over the lifespan of the contract".
Voluntary departures
Before deportations happen, either through the refusal of an asylum claim, or because they are illegally in the country, people are issued with what is called a notification of intention to deport.
They then have a period of time, usually 15 working days, to make written representations to the Minister for Justice setting out reasons as to why they should not have a deportation order against them.
The preference of the State is for people to return voluntarily and the department operates a voluntary return programme before a deportation order is issued. Official figures show that in 2024, the number of voluntary returns increased to 934 compared to 213 in 2023.
If they don't appeal they can also decide to leave voluntarily.
"If you don't leave the State by that date, then you're subject to arrest and forcible deportation," explains Cathal Malone BL, an immigration lawyer based in Dublin.
"A good number of people, when they reach the end of the road, they get a deportation order and they're just going to have to accept that. They can only be revoked in very limited circumstances."
Some of these people will leave voluntarily, but there is also no obligation on them to inform the Department of Justice that they are doing this.
"So people may just leave. And Ireland doesn't have exit controls."
Aside from enforced deportations and those people confirmed to have left the State, a large number of people leave without informing Irish authorities. However, there are no routine exit checks at Irish borders to provide accurate numbers.
Some 29 European countries are to introduce these exit controls electronically later this year, with plans under way by the European Commission for an Entry/Exit System (EES) to be introduced from October.
This is an automated IT system for registering travellers from third countries, each time they cross an EU external border. This will remove the requirement to manually stamp passports at the EU's external borders and instead create digital records that links a travel document to a person’s identity using biometrics. The European Commission says this will help prevent irregular migration and help protect the security of European citizens.
Whilst it is part of the EU, the Republic of Ireland is not a part of the Schengen zone and so not part of this system.
"If you're on holidays in France, when you're coming back to Ireland, you will go through immigration on the way back as well. We don't do that in Dublin Airport or Cork or Shannon and we don't do it at ports," says Mr Malone. Others can go over the border into Northern Ireland, so the number of voluntary exits from the State is not always clear.
Others who do not present to the State upon receiving a deportation order may go to ground or work in the black economy, but Mr Malone says many people in this situation will ultimately be detected by gardaí.
Why Georgia?
So far, the two flights chartered by the State have both been to Georgia.
Many Georgians who come here are economic migrants and it has been deemed a 'safe country' by Ireland since 2018.
However, since then, the south Caucasus country has been gripped by large anti-government protests and political turmoil.
In November, the ruling Georgian Dream party's decision to freeze European Union membership talks until 2028 provoked an ongoing wave of protests, alongside a violent crackdown by authorities.
The Georgian Dream party returned to power last October in an election the opposition says was fraudulent.
Since then, laws have been introduced requiring organisations receiving money from overseas to register as "foreign agents", hundreds of civil servants have been removed from office for their pro-EU views and the first reading of a bill has been passed, which could give Georgian authorities broad powers to ban opposition parties.
Georgia remained in the top five countries for asylum applications here until December 2023 and has since returned to the top five.
"Our employment permit system and our legal pathway to come here and work is incredibly restrictive. It's literally impossible to get permits for certain sectors of the economy."
Jim O’Callaghan said many members of the Georgian community are here legally, and they contribute to the economy and the cultural and social fabric of Irish society.
According to the Irish Refugee Council, even if you are from a country deemed safe by the Irish Government, you may be granted refugee status or subsidiary protection, as the International Protection Office must take individual circumstances into account.
"It (Georgia) does in fact produce genuine refugees," says Mr Malone. "But there are people coming from Georgia who are economic migrants."
He says the problem arises as there are very few legal pathways for people from Georgia who want to work here, to do so, primarily because it remains outside the EU.
"Our employment permit system and our legal pathway to come here and work is incredibly restrictive. It’s literally impossible to get permits for certain sectors of the economy."
This comes as Ireland remains close to full employment with labour shortages, particularly in hospitality and construction.
The latest International Protection Accommodation Service report showed there were 2,992 people from Georgia in IPAS accommodation.
For over a year, the largest number of international protection applicants have come from Nigeria, with the remaining top five countries from where people sought asylum in March this year being Pakistan, Somalia and Afghanistan.
Read more:
Explained: Ireland's migration policy and how it works
What can be expected from the Government's overhaul of asylum laws?
Further reform?
Earlier this week, the Government announced a major overhaul of asylum laws, billed as the most significant reform of the area in the history of the State.
The International Protection Bill 2025 is part of Ireland's obligations to redraft its immigration laws, bringing them into line with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
The pact comes into force in June next year and it means there will be a much tighter window, of just three months, for making decisions on asylum applications at borders.
To speed up the process, a key proposal is that oral hearings for international protection applicants appealing a refusal of asylum will be allowed only in exceptional circumstances.
Rather than facilitating more deportations, Mr Malone warns this could lead to more legal appeals including to the Supreme Court and to the European courts.
"The difficulty with that is if you're trying to assess somebody's credibility, when somebody is telling you about what happened to them, there is often limited documentary evidence. Taking away the ability to sit down and see somebody face-to-face and to assess whether you believe them or not can be very, very damaging to their rights."
He says rushing the procedure has the potential for unfairness.
The process of assessing people's asylum claims more quickly and of speeding up deportations is also one of resources. The Legal Aid Board has warned that an increasing number of applicants for asylum in recent years, along with the pressures of an accelerated process, was putting its services under stress.
Announcing the accelerated procedure for fast-tracking applications from people coming from so-called "safe countries" at this time last year, the then minister for justice Helen McEntee said more than 100 gardaí who had been working behind desks, had now been freed up to work with the Garda National Immigration Bureau to carry out deportation operations.
However, speeding up deportations has so far proved to be a costly process, that can take time, as the political heat around this issue remains high.
