Record number of non-EU nationals illegally present in Ireland last year
Seán McCárthaigh
A record number of non-EU nationals were found to be illegally present in Ireland last year, following a 67 per cent increase in detections of individuals with no authorisation to be in the State.
New figures on the enforcement of immigration legislation across the EU also show that a record number of foreign nationals were ordered to leave Ireland in 2025.
There was also a record number of actual returns of people ordered to leave.
The report published by the European Commission provides evidence of a growing crackdown on illegal immigrants by the Irish authorities, with 5,460 individuals found to be illegally present in the Republic in 2025 – up from 3,265 the previous year.
Brazilians accounted for the most immigrants deemed to be living in Ireland illegally, with 1,080, followed by Georgians (930), Algerians (535) and Nigerians (395).
Despite the record figure, the report also highlighted how the number of people found to be illegally present in Ireland is still proportionately below the EU average.
It showed that there were 1.0 third-country nationals illegally present per 1,000 population in Ireland compared to the EU average of 1.6.
The rate was as high as 13.4 illegal immigrants per 1,000 population in Slovenia, followed by Greece (5.9), Cyprus (5.4) and Croatia (5.2).
The increase in detections of illegal third-country nationals in Ireland bucked the general trend in Europe, where the number of immigrants found to be illegally present across the 27 EU member states was down almost 22 per cent overall in 2025.
A total of just over 719,000 individuals were found to be illegally present within the EU last year – down from a recent annual peak of over 1.2 million in 2023.
Algerian citizens accounted for the highest number of third-country nationals found to be illegally present in the EU last year, with 70,905, followed by citizens of Afghanistan (42,635), Morocco (39,030) and Ukraine (36,800).
The report also reveals that a record 6,260 non-EU nationals were ordered to leave Ireland in 2025– an annual increase of 91 per cent.
For the third year in a row, citizens of Georgia accounted for the largest number of foreign nationals issued with an order to leave Ireland, with 1,220, ahead of Brazil (810), Algeria (580) and Nigeria (440).
The Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, has stated that the operation of special charter flights to return illegal immigrants to their home country underscores a renewed focus on the enforcement of immigration legislation.
Overall, a total of 491,950 orders were issued to third-country nationals by EU member states in 2025 – an annual increase of 6% – with France accounting for more than a quarter of the total.
Citizens of Algeria, Morocco, Turkey and Syria accounted for the highest numbers ordered to leave the territory of an EU country.
The figures also show that a record 2,030 individuals who had received an order to leave Ireland were returned to a third country last year – up from 1,055 in 2024, which had set the previous record over the past decade.
Last year’s figure for Ireland represented just 1.5 per cent of 155,110 illegal immigrants returned by EU member states in 2025.
The report shows that the vast majority of returns from Ireland were done on a voluntary basis with just 18 per cent subject to forced deportation.
It also reveals that 74 per cent of individuals involved in returns from Ireland received some assistance with their repatriation in the form of either administrative, logistical or financial support through programmes funded by the EU.
Citizens of Georgia accounted for the largest number of returns last year, with 525 followed by Brazil (410), Jordan (310) and Nigeria (100).
In reply to parliamentary questions earlier this month, O’Callaghan said there were currently over 800 people subject to a deportation order residing in IPAs accommodation.
The Minister said it was his department’s priority to have recommendations made on all international protection applications as soon as possible.
“There has been a significant increase in investment into the international protection system, which, combined with digitisation and process reengineering, has facilitated a major increase in processing capacity,” said Mr O’Callaghan.
Separately, the report also shows that 132,600 third-country nationals were refused entry into the EU at external border crossings in 2025 – an increase of seven per cent on the previous year.
However, the number of non-EU nationals stopped at borders in the Republic was down four per cent to 6,610 – a decrease of 285.
The number of migrants refused entry at Irish borders accounted for five per cent of all people refused entry into the EU last year.
The vast majority of people stopped at borders in the Republic were at airports, with just eight per cent being refused entry at land borders with Northern Ireland and at ports.
The country of origin for most individuals prevented from coming into Ireland was Albania with 1,280 – almost 1 in 5 of all refusals – followed by Brazil (725) and Somalia (615).
The report showed that almost a third of people were refused entry to the EU last year because their purpose and conditions of stay were not justified.
Approximately 15 per cent had no valid visa or residence permit, while an alert had been issued in relation to 13 per cent of those refused entry to the EU, and three per cent were classified as a public threat.
The largest number of third-country nationals were refused entry to the EU while attempting to enter Poland, France and Croatia.
The largest number of non-EU nationals refused entry came from Ukraine (26,975) followed by Moldova (11,660), Colombia (6,565), Turkey (5,635) and Serbia (5,440).
