The Government has backed Italian plans to return illegal immigrants home on EU-organised charter flights in an effort to increase the number of deportations from the Republic.
Due to come into force next May, the plan could help in particular to increase the number of Nigerians forced to leave here, the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said last night.
Under the plan, an EU member-state will hire a charter aircraft and offer any available spare seats to other member-states if they pay a proportion of the costs. The Department of Justice last year spent €1 million on three charter flights to Algeria and Nigeria, although most deportees are sent home on commercial airlines.
Mr McDowell said: "It offers a more effective and cost-saving way of removing persons with deportation decisions."
So far, 13 Kosovar and four Albanian deportees have been sent home from Ireland on board a weekly flight from London, organised by the British immigration authorities, while talks on co-operation with the Dutch are nearly complete.
Mr McDowell's Department has spent €1 million so far this year to deport 388 illegal immigrants, although this does not include the cost of gardaí accompanying the deportees.
However, the majority of deportation orders are never executed, the Minister told the Oireachtas Justice, Equality and Law Reform Committee.
"About 50 per cent of people who apply for asylum disappear the day afterwards, and we never hear from them again," he said.
Nearly 2,000 deportation orders were signed by the Minister this year, but just 472 people were removed, he told Mr John Deasy (FG), who supported the efforts to create an EU-wide deportation system.
"That is just 20 per cent of the total. But there are a number who go before the deportations are issued. There were 648 people who were told that they did not have a prayer who left of their own accord," Mr McDowell said.
The Minister is required to obtain the approval of the Oireachtas before he enters final negotiations on the proposal, which, if finalised, will become part of the Schengen Agreement.
The largest number, at 425, of deportees has been returned to Romania, while 223 have been returned to the Czech Republic, 203 to Poland, 80 to China and 78 to Nigeria.
The Nigerian figure is proportionally small given the number claiming asylum, but a lack of direct flights to Lagos has hindered their return.
Asked by Mr Joe Costello (Labour) if the charter plan would increase the number of such deportations, he said: "This would facilitate deportations to Nigeria."