In February 2007, the British government announced that a specially lenient procedure would apply to the deportation of Irish citizens compared to the procedure for other European Economic Area nationals. As a result, Irish nationals are not routinely considered for deportation from the UK when they are released from prison. The Government's approach to the deportation of Irish citizens since 2007 is to only deport Irish citizens where recommended by a court in sentencing or in exceptional circumstances where that deportation is in the public interest.