Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I am focusing on the amendments which deal with the requirement to search aircraft. The section deals with the power of authorised officers at the airport. The amendments specifically seek to include in the section that authorised officers be required to conduct searches of such aircraft. I was trying to explain why this was necessary and detail all of the channels we had gone through to have the issue dealt with, only to be ignored at every turn; how protestors at Shannon Airport had done everything in their power to highlight the issue and how the Judiciary had responded by saying it was one for the Legislature. In addition, more than 100 requests to search aircraft have been lodged with An Garda Síochána, but this has not happened. The purpose of the key amendment is to require the authorised officer whose powers the Minister is changing to address the issue of the searching of aircraft. There are a couple of reasons it needs to be addressed on a legislative basis.

As the Minister will be aware, the Air Navigation and Transport (Amendment) Act 1998 is the domestic legislation that gives effect to the Chicago Convention. The convention monitors how civil aircraft and so on are dealt with. It is deemed that every country has autonomy over its airspace and in this regard, can lay down its own rules. The Air Navigation Foreign Military Aircraft Order 1952 provides, "Every foreign military aircraft flying over or landing in the State on the express invitation or with the express permission of the Minister shall comply with such stipulations as the Minister may make in relation to such aircraft". When we previously raised this issue, we were given assurances that all 630 US aircraft that had landed during the previous 12 months at Shannon Airport had been carrying no arms, ammunition or explosives; that they were not engaging in intelligence gathering and were not part of military exercises or operations. However, the legislation does not stipulate this. Has this been decided in a subsequent ministerial order and, if so, when was it put in place?

I put it to the Minister that that criteria are not being adhered to in that no searches have been carried out by the Defence Forces, members of whom have been present for more than 300 landings during the past year, or An Garda Síochána. We know from Dr. Tom Clonan who has been on board some of the aircraft that weapons were being carried. We know from the error which occurred last year when weaponry was carried outside the aircraft that many do carry weapons. We know from US military policy that soldiers are not allowed to travel without their weapons which are not brought to them on a later Ryanair flight: they must carry their weapons with them. It will not be known if weapons are being carried until the aircraft are searched. I echo Deputy Mick Wallace's point that the onus is on us in this regard.

We would be doing a good thing and fulfilling our international obligations if we paid attention in that regard.

I wish to deal briefly with the amendments as they stand. The first-----

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