Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The scope of the question has been widened somewhat. The question tabled was about sovereign immunity. The position is clear in that there are conditions attached to the landing of any military aircraft at an Irish airport. The aircraft must have permission to land. The conditions attached are that they must be unarmed and they cannot be part of a military operation. On the specific case of Canada, it is the case that a small number of Canadian military aircraft land at Shannon Airport each year. Therefore, their presence is not particularly unusual.

The number is relatively small in comparison with the volume of US military aircraft which transit through the airport. I understand Canada is considering the possibility of increasing the number of aircraft which use the airport for refuelling purposes, but no special arrangements will apply to these aircraft. They will have to comply with the same conditions as all military aircraft landing at Shannon Airport.

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