The number of deportation orders issued to asylum seekers has risen by over 140% over the past year.

Voluntary returns by migrants are up 270% and enforced deportations are at a 10-year high.

The Irish Times reports 1,792 deportation orders have been signed so far this year - compared with 746 for the same period in 2023.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee is due to report to Cabinet this week, outlining the current figures and the impact of new measures to speed up asylum applications and enforcement.

Record number of arrivals

The figures come following a record number of people arriving in Ireland and lodging international protection applications.

In the first half of this year, roughly 11,000 people applied for asylum in Ireland - a figure 87% higher than in the same period in 2023.

Tents erected along Dublin’s Grand Canal. Image: Barry Whyte/Newstalk

With such large numbers of people coming in, the State has struggled to source appropriate accomodation for all asylum seekers and last month, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said immigration into the Republic is too high.

Despite this, he said there is little the Government can do to control it.

“One thing I would have faced a lot as Taoiseach is, ‘You’re bringing all these asylum seekers into the country’ - as if I was handing out brochures in Kabul or Syria,” he said.

“Of course I wasn’t – but that’s what some people think.”

Main image: Justice Minister Helen McEntee speaking to the media at Government Buildings. Picture by: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie

Reporting by Teena Gates and James Wilson.