JUSTICE MINISTER JIM O’Callaghan has said last night’s chartered flight for deportations which cost close to €325,000 is “value for money”.

Last night, 35 people were deported on a chartered flight to Lagos, Nigeria.

This included 21 men, nine women and five children – the children removed are all part of family groups.

It’s the third chartered flight so far this year and was carried out by the Garda National Immigration Bureau, following two previous chartered flights to Georgia.

O’Callaghan said the flight “landed safely this morning”, though it did have to make an unscheduled stop due to a medical incident on board.

When a person does not comply with a deportation order they can be arrested and detained to ensure their deportation.

The Department of Justice said carries out enforced removals as a “last resort” when a person does not remove themselves from the State.

Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, O’Callaghan said the exact cost of last night’s flight was €324,714.

The first chartered flight to Georgia in February cost just over €102,000, and O’Callaghan told the Dáil that the second flight in April would cost around €200,000.

O’Callaghan said the cost of last night’s flight includes the cost of employing gardaí for this purpose.

He described the fee of close to €325,000 as the “standard price”.

“You have to look at the alternative to it,” said O’Callaghan.

“My department is spending €1.2 billion this year just in terms of accommodation for people who are seeking asylum.

“We do it because we’re obliged to do so, but there has to be a consequence.”

He added that the flight costs provides “value for money”.

“Not just in terms of the cost of a charter flight,” said O’Callaghan, “but also it is sending out a very clear message that deportation orders mean something.

“If you have a deportation order, you’re required to leave the country. If you don’t do so voluntarily, it will be enforced.”

He added: “It’s in the interest of people who are granted asylum, that persons who are rejected for asylum are forced to leave.

“Otherwise the asylum system becomes meaningless.”

Meanwhile, O’Callaghan remarked that such enforced deportations “is not a very pleasant part of the job”.

“But in terms of ensuring that we have a rules based system, it is absolutely essential that we have a response and a consequence to people who have been served with a deportation order yet do not comply with it,” he added.

O’Callaghan also said that such chartered flights will be a “fairly frequent and regular response to the issue”.

“People have to know that if they’re served with a deportation order, it has meaning.

“If it is the case that you’re not permitted to stay, there must be a consequence otherwise the whole system becomes meaningless.”