Record Spent To Deport Pakistani Nationals from Ireland Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan

Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan reveals that the chartered flight to deport Pakistan cost €473,000.

Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan has revealed that a chartered flight used to deport 24 men from Ireland to Pakistan two weeks ago cost Ireland €473,000.

This was the most expensive and fourth chartered deportation flight so far this year, after two flights to Georgia and one to Nigeria from February to June, costing a total of €530,941.

But the price of the flight, which departed for Pakistan on September 23, does not include support services such as ground-handling, on-board paramedics, and flight management.

A total of 130 people have been deported on chartered flights since the start of this year, while the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) has removed 137 people on commercial airlines.

The first chartered deportation flight took 32 people to Georgia at a cost of €102,476, working at a rate of €3,302 per person. In May, another chartered flight to Georgia deported 39 people at a cost of €103,751, or €2,660 per person.

In June, a return flight to Nigeria costing €324,714 was able to deport 35 people, including five children, working at a rate of €9,278 per person.

The September 23 chartered flight deported 24 men to Pakistan, costing around €473,000 per person, making it the most expensive deportation flight ever.

Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan, who revealed the figure in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon, said the cost would rise further as the invoicing process was not complete.

“Deportations are expensive and complicated to implement,” he said. “The best option is to voluntarily return people, and my department has a voluntary return program to help bring people back before a deportation order is issued.

“If a person does not turn themselves in after a deportation order is issued, they will be removed, and my department has taken action to significantly improve immigration enforcement processes and increase removals.”

Last year, this increased by 180 percent to 2,403, compared to 857 deportations in 2023. A total of 3,035 deportation orders were signed as of October 3 this year.

“24 adult men were removed on a chartered flight to Pakistan on September 23,” Mr O’Callaghan said. “I can confirm that the returnees were accompanied on this flight by Garda officers, medical staff, an interpreter and a human rights monitor.

“The cost of providing the aircraft for the fourth charter operation is approximately €473,000 for the return flight to Pakistan. The total costs for this operation are not yet available as the invoicing process has not yet been completed,” the minister said.