Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The problem is that they are not. Last week I asked the Tánaiste in a question tabled for written reply about a specific Hercules aircraft that had been at Shannon Airport on 6 November and whether it had been carrying passengers or cargo. We were led to believe it had been carrying passengers because of where it had landed. However, the Tánaiste's response to me was that he was not in a position to give that information. If he is not in a position to know whether it was carrying passengers or cargo, how does he know the criteria of international law which he has specified to the House today are being fulfilled? How does he know the criteria are being fulfilled in terms of treaties such as the Geneva and Hague conventions, the arms trade treaty, the UN convention against torture, all of which we have signed up to, and how does he know these military aircraft are not breaching these criteria? How does he know if the aircraft have not been searched? With aeroplanes that had not been searched, it had to be acknowledged that there were breaches when they were so obvious. How do we know other aircraft are not doing the same?

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