A Fianna Fáil TD and European election candidate has slammed the Department of Justice for failing to implement existing immigration laws, “demanding” that they “finally start” to do so.
In a statement this week, Laois-Offaly TD Barry Cowen said that sections 21, 52 and 72A of the International Protection Act 2015 would “allow for the deportation of migrants if their applications for asylum are rejected.”
However, he added: “The Department is not forcing them to leave the country.”
“A total of 957 deportation orders were signed in 2023, but only 17 people were removed under various processes, including 52 people by enforced deportation order,” he said.
“As of the end of February this year, there were 174 deportation orders issued, with just 12 enforced orders.”
This would represent 92.7% of deportation orders not enforced.
In the statement, the Deputy said that there were “several pieces of legislation” on the statute books currently “that are not being enforced by the Department of Justice.”
“If someone applies for asylum and is rejected, there is a period where they can appeal, and if that appeal is unsuccessful, they should be sent back to their country of origin,” he said.
“But only a tiny number of people are being forced to leave.”
He added: “It’s sending a message that if you come here and apply for asylum, even if you get rejected, you don’t get sent back – you get to stay.
“This is despite the fact that the Department had the necessary powers to enforce these laws – they can’t be brought to the High Court or questioned.”
The Deputy further claimed that had the Department of Justice handled the situation differently, Ireland wouldn’t have seen the asylum situation reaching such “crisis levels”.
“If the Department of Justice had taken control of the situation and enforced the statute, then the immigration issue wouldn’t be escalating to crisis levels that we are now witnessing,” he said.
“I am calling on the Department of Justice and indeed the Minister to enforce the laws of the state and to do so in an efficient and effective manner.”