THE TÁNAISTE HAS said the number of people refused entry to Ireland is expected to exceed 4,000 this year.

More than 2,000 people have already been refused leave to land in the State so far and numbers have been rising over the last three years.

In response to a parliamentary question from Green Party TD Catherine Martin, Frances Fitzgerald said the overwhelming majority of people “who arrive at the frontiers of the State without permission to enter or live here are refused leave to land”.

“Indeed, this figure has risen substantially to almost 3,500 last year and is expected to exceed 4,000 this year.”

The figures provided by Fitzgerald show 286 people have been deported in 2016 – an increase on the 251 for the whole of last year and the 114 in 2014.

Some 468 deportation orders have also been issued this year.

Fitzgerald said that a person will not be expelled from the State or returned to another state “where the life or freedom of that person would be on account of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”.