Increased financial help for voluntary returns
The Government is to increase the amount of financial help it will offer to people who withdraw their applications for international protection and leave Ireland voluntarily.
The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has a voluntary-return programme that is open to people who have no legal status in Ireland, or who have withdrawn their application for international protection or have had it refused.
It includes re-integration assistance, which is currently set at a level of up to €1,200 per person and €2,000 per family unit.
€2,500 per person
For a limited time, people who were in the international-protection process before 28 September this year will be offered increased re-integration assistance if they choose to return home at an earlier stage in the process.
If a person opts for either before receiving a first-instance decision or before appealing a negative first-instance decision, their assistance will be increased to €2,500 per person to a maximum of €10,000 per family unit.
The department says that this offer is not open to new international-protection applicants from 29 September.
Pressure
Minister Jim O’Callaghan said that the Government needed to relieve pressure from the system by reducing the number of people in the process who were not going to be successful.
“This limited-time measure is targeted to incentivise people in the earlier stages of the process to avail of voluntary return and to be supported to leave,” he stated.
The minister added that voluntary returns were “significantly quicker and cheaper” than removing people through enforced deportations.
The department estimates that it costs €122,000 per person to process an average international-protection application.
‘Strict safeguards’
The minister also said that there would be “strict safeguards” in place to prevent abuse of the programme, with people allowed to access the assistance only after their departure was confirmed by officials.
“It will not be offered to those convicted of a serious crime,” he added.
Nearly 1, 200 people have left Ireland by way of voluntary return this year, according to the department.
Refugee body's concerns
The Irish Refugee Council has expressed “serious concern” about the proposals, saying that it “strongly opposes” the plan.
Chief executive Nick Henderson said that the policy was specifically directed at people still in the protection process, describing this as “unethical and inappropriate”.
“This is particularly troubling in the context of the 30% of appeals being successful in 2024 and, therefore, many having an application that has a reasonable prospect of success,” he added.
The organisation has also called on the Department of Justice to refrain from direct communication by email on the issue with applicants.
“Such contact risks creating additional distress and confusion among a group of people who are already in highly precarious situations,” Henderson stated.