Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)

The issue is that this is a massive change in technology and in people's lives. We all agree that road transport can create poor quality of life, inequality and so on. The question is whether we want to transfer that to our skies. The most powerful argument that has been made by a resident is to ask whether our skies will become as busy as our roads? From the previous session here, the IAA regulates the safety of the drone operation. The councils do not take any complaints about noise, so there is a massive gap and problem for residents who are impacted. It is not the only complaint but it is the main complaint. All they can do is send a complaint to a private company that is causing the noise, that is profiting and that is not accountable to people. I believe absolutely that Manna should not be allowed to operate in this framework where there is no accountability or transparency for residents.

One of the issues the Manna representatives talk about is the environment but they tend to talk about the last mile. Obviously, there is an environmental impact from producing drones, from warehousing and from single-use coffee cups, which is a big feature of Manna's business and other drone delivery businesses. That is not talked about at all.

The other issue is that Manna is teaming up with Deliveroo now, so it will take jobs away from Deliveroo riders, migrant workers, but that is never mentioned in the talk of job creation.