Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)

I thank the Chair and all the witnesses. My time is very short. I am one of the people living under the experiment and guinea pig situation in Dublin 15. I think we all agree with drones for civil defence, topography, delivering medicines and all that. What we are talking about is drone delivery by commercial companies for fast food and coffee. It seems to me, by what I am hearing today, that the IAA is responsible for the safety of the drones. The councils will not take any complaints about noise. The Department of Transport will not either, so we have a situation where residents whose lives are dramatically impacted by these drone deliveries have no recourse. That is what we are saying here today. Is that correct? The other issue is that there are no residents even represented here today.

Professor McCarthy said there should be societal acceptance. Would he not agree that we need a higher bar than that assent and approval of the airspace over our houses and back gardens suddenly being invaded by drones? I ask Professor McCarthy to be very brief because I have another question.