Overview
- A charter that departed Dublin on Thursday removed 42 South African nationals consisting of nine men, 18 women and 15 children who were travelling in family units.
- The flight was provided by Air Partner Ltd at an initial cost of €735,000 excluding VAT, which works out to about €17,500 per person based on the preliminary invoice.
- Those deported were escorted by gardaí and accompanied by medical staff, an interpreter and a human-rights observer, and Irish authorities said two adults in the group had criminal convictions.
- Official figures show a stepped-up enforcement drive this year with four deportation flights to date, 2,108 deportation orders signed so far in 2026 and €1.66m recorded as spent on deportation flights between January 1st and April 15th.
- The removal raises human and policy questions because it involved children travelling with family members, it increases public spending on chartered returns and it follows a contract with Air Partner that could be worth up to €5m over its term.