More than sixty failed asylum seekers were deported from Dublin airport this morning after a series of raids yesterday.
A Garda spokesman confirmed the non-nationals from Romania and Moldova were being accompanied by 30 gardai, a doctor, a nurse and an interpreter on the charter flight, which is costing a reported €120,000.
The 53 Romanians and 12 Moldovans were detained in a series of raids in Counties Dublin, Westmeath, Wicklow, Galway and in Mosney, Co Meath, in an operation which began yesterday morning.
All of them have been through the appeals process and are liable for deportation on ministerial orders. It is one of the biggest crackdowns on illegal immigrants.
The plane landed in Bucharest this afternoon, where the 53 Romanians disembarked. Only 15 had passports. The group, comprised of 34 men, 12 women and seven children, will be banned from travelling abroad for up to five years, local police said.
Romania brought home almost 22,000 illegal immigrants last year and banned them from leaving the country for up to five years for breaking immigration rules or working illegally. Romania is seeking to join the European Union by 2007 and has been told to tighten border controls to prevent illegal migration to Western Europe.
The remaining passengers are continuing on to the Moldovan capital, Kishishev.
The Irish Refugee Council said it was concerned by the lack of an "independent monitoring mechanism" to oversee the deportation of illegal migrants. A spokeswoman said while the Council accepted deportations would arise in some cases the lack of "public scrutiny into the process" was a concern.
Mr Joe Costello of the Labour Party questioned the use of Garda resources in the operation. "On the very morning on which a survey was published by the Small Firms Association showing that crime was now costing business almost €1 billion per year, serious questions must be asked about the decision to allocate so much Garda money, time and resources to the deportation of penniless people from Eastern Europe," Mr Costello said.
He added: "Since taking office Minister McDowell has clearly made the pursuit of asylum seekers his personal priority. One could only wish that he would pursue the enforcement of the law in other areas of life, with equal vigour."