28 persons who were deported by the State in 2025 had criminal convictions, a reply to an Independent TD from the Minister for Justice has confirmed.
The Minister advised that of the 344 individuals whose deportation orders have been enforced by so far in 2025, 267 were detained prior to deportation. “Of this group, 28 had criminal convictions,” he added.
“I can further advise that of the 267 people who were detained for the purposes of deportation this year up to 28 November, 206 were detained in Cloverhill Prison, 24 in Mountjoy Female Prison, 16 in Cork prison, 10 in Limerick prison, seven in Castlerea Prison, three in Midlands prison and one in Dublin Airport Garda Station,” the reply to Deputy Carol Nolan said.
Offaly TD, Carol Nolan, had asked the Minister for Justice if he is now in a position to provide information regarding on the number of persons arrested in each year from 2020 to date in 2025 who were found to be in breach of a deportation order, in addition to the number of such persons who were detained and for how long.
“There is a perception being put out there by heavily invested NGOs and others that every person we are deporting is some kind of innocent angel who wandered into the country by mistake and who has never put a foot wrong while being here,” she told Gript today.
“This is a nonsense narrative that must be countered with the facts. We now know that a non insignificant number of those who are deported have criminal convictions,” she said.
“We are not told what they are, so it could range from the relatively lower end of the scale to the most grievous kind of criminality. In any event, the safety of our communities is paramount. Every other consideration is secondary to that.”
“We have enough law order issues to deal with without accommodating non-national criminals. Thats never been part of the deal and no attempt to normalise that, or rationalise away the criminality of these people should be accepted,” she said.
Notes to the table released showed that in 2021 there was a moratorium on deportations, which was lifted in 2022. A significant increase in arrest regarding deportation orders is also recorded.
Minister Jim O’Callaghan said that “deportations are costly and complex to enforce. 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. A person can only avail of voluntary return before a deportation order is issued and I have increased resources into this programme to enable people who wish to return before a deportation order is issued to them.”
“It is a central priority for me that Ireland’s immigration system is robust, and rules based. The enforcement aspects of our laws, including deportation orders, are an essential requirement for the system to work effectively and to ensure that there is confidence in the application of our legislation in this area,” he said.
“In 2024, 934 people left Ireland by way of voluntary return. This year 1,496 people have left Ireland by way of voluntary return up to 05 December 2025, which is an increase of 78% compared to the same period in 2024,” he said in the reply to Deputy Nolan.
“Any person who has been ordered to leave the State and fails to do so is committing a criminal offence, and can be arrested without warrant if they come into contact with An Garda Síochána. Such an order remains on the person’s record permanently, unless revoked by the Minister for Justice – it means they may not enter Ireland again in future,” the Minister said.