€474k bill to send asylum seekers back to Pakistan

THERE were more than three times as many gardai as deportees on a half-full flight to Pakistan even though it included just one person with a serious criminal conviction.

- BY KEN FOXE

Department of Justice notes show “Operation Toboggan’ in September cost €474,000 and involved only 24 failed asylum seekers.

Three of those on board had “minor offences” but were never sent to jail while one had a serious criminal conviction from the UK.

PARAMEDIC

The notes show 79 garda, a doctor, a paramedic, a translator, and a human rights monitor were on board.

The average bill for each deportee was around €20,000, as the department said such operations were “costly and complex”.