Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The reason is that the cargo list must provide information on what is on an aeroplane. The short answer to the Deputy's question is that the information is given to us on a cargo list, making it visible to the State. The 19 refusals to which I referred - that is the number according to the most recent information for last year - were made on the basis of the input we had received from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. A number of reasons could lead to such a recommendation, the first of which is the indiscriminate nature of the munitions. The Chairman has quizzed me on that matter, but the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade can revert to the committee on it. Other issues could be considered, for example, the origins of a flight, to where it would be flying, the international climate at the time and so on. The specific reason for refusing the 19 flights was the visibility on their cargo lists of what would be carried on the aeroplanes.