40 per cent drop in people seeking international protection in Ireland

Eva Osborne

There has been a sharp fall in the number of people seeking international protection in Ireland, with new figures showing the number of people applying for it has dropped by more than 40 per cent.

It comes as deportation orders tripled in the first three months of the year.

There were just over 3,000 international protection applications between January and March of this year, compared to 5,100 during the same time last year, according to The Irish Times.

Meanwhile, there has been a three-fold increase in deportation orders issued as part of a tougher approach to migration.

1,008 orders were issued in the first three months of the year compared with 305 from January to March in 2024.

A charter flight to Georgia in February was the first such flight in a number many years.