119 gardaí escort 52 deportees on €190K charter flight as families sent home

Ken Foxe

Nearly 120 gardaí travelled on a charter flight to Georgia that cost nearly €190,000 and carried just 52 deportees.

Just one of the passengers had a long history of criminality, while one other had committed a theft offence, and two had minor traffic convictions.

Briefings for Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan detail how 35 men, ten women, two girls, and five boys were on board the flight in November.

He was told that four family groups had been removed and that the 52 deportees had an average time in the State of two years and eight months.

The family groups included three mothers travelling alone, two of whom had two children and one who had three.

The briefing on ‘Operation Trench’ said that 119 members of An Garda were on board the flight as well as a translator, a human rights monitor, a doctor, and a paramedic.

A Q&A sheet prepared for Mr O’Callaghan said that 41 of the 52 on board were held in custody in the heavily overcrowded Irish prison system prior to departure.

It said that individuals could be held for up to eight weeks to ensure a deportation could be carried out successfully.

The briefing document said: “Any children removed were part of family groups and were not detained.”

The Q&A said sometimes lengthy periods of detention were required because otherwise “people may abscond.”

A suggested answer for the minister said: “The legislation provides that people can be held for up to 56 days … but it is usually significantly less than that and we would seek to minimise it.”

The briefing document also revealed that some of those on board had “open applications” for revocation of their removal order.

If asked about that, Mr O’Callaghan was advised to say that an application of that type “does not suspend deportation.”

The Q&A included suggested answers for what to say if asked about the presence of young children on the flight.

It said it could be emphasised that all were travelling with a parent and that the human rights monitor would keep a close watch.

The briefing said: “These families will have been encouraged to take the option of voluntary return; that would have both avoided this outcome and given them significant support in the form of a reintegration grant.”

On whether it was a “good use” of the time of nearly 120 gardaí, the minister was told deportations were a “difficult experience” for those involved.

One suggested answer said: “These operations require highly skilled and trained people to ensure the safety of everyone on the flight.”

The briefing claimed the cost of charter flights was generally comparable to removal operations on commercial flights.

However, it said there had never been a specific cost-benefit analysis for the flights.

Asked about the records, a spokesman said they could not yet provide details on costs aside from the €187,625 bill for the aircraft.

He said: “The removal of persons who have been refused permission to remain is an essential requirement for the immigration system to work effectively and to ensure that the public has confidence in the application of our laws in this area.

“Without enforced removals, the incentive to comply with deportation orders or to take up a voluntary return option prior to a deportation order being made would be greatly undermined, and the overall level of returns would be far lower.”