There has been a steep rise in the number of deportations of failed asylum-seekers from the State.
Some 441 people have been deported in the first nine months of the year, compared to 365 in the whole of last year; 187 deportations were carried out in 2000.
However, there is no evidence that the appointment of Mr Michael McDowell as Minister for Justice has led to a further increase in the numbers being deported. One hundred and sixty-seven people were deported in the three full months before Mr McDowell succeeded Mr John O'Donoghue as minister in May. This compares to 151 deported in the three full months following his appointment.
Refugee support groups had complained that Mr McDowell was taking a severe approach to immigrants whose application for asylum was rejected. They have pointed out that Ireland was more reluctant to grant humanitarian leave to remain to failed asylum-seekers than many other EU states.
Mr McDowell has emphasised that he will make "no exceptions" even in cases where he receives a large number of representations, in order to preserve the integrity of the asylum system.
The latest figures from the Department of Justice also show that the number of asylum-seekers coming to Ireland is on the increase again after two years of relative stability. Almost 1,200 people applied for asylum last month, the second-highest monthly total recorded after December 1999.
A total of 8,412 asylum applications have been lodged so far this year. The full-year total is heading for more than 11,000, which would be the highest on record. Between them, the two Ministers for Justice have signed more than 2,100 deportation orders so far this year.
So far this year, 708 people have been granted refugee status and 5,961 applications for asylum have been refused; this equates to an acceptance rate of 11 per cent.
The number of outstanding cases now stands at 5,252. However, only 434 of these applications were made before this year.
Nigerians accounts for 2,893 of the applications made this year; this amounts to more than a third of the total. Some 1,124 applications were made by Romanians. The next highest totals came from Moldovans (425 applications), Zimbabweans (319) and Ukrainians (275).
