Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

4 o’clock

I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 13 together.

My Department is responsible for controls on the export of military items from Ireland. Under Irish law, military export licences must be sought for the export from Ireland of military goods and technology and any component thereof listed on the EU common military list. Items which are classified as "military goods" from an export control perspective and exported from Ireland involve components rather than finished military equipment. Military licences issued by my Department include licences issued to individuals holding sports firearms and companies engaged in mining activity.

My Department is also responsible for licensing the export of dual-use items outside the European Union. It performs this function pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No. 428/2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports and the transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items. The term "dual-use" refers to items that are normally used for civilian or commercial purposes but which may also have a military application. The vast majority of dual-use licences issued by my Department are for commercial purposes.

Export licence statistics for both military and dual-use goods for the period 1 January to 30 June 2016 will be published before the end of the month. My Department also publishes more comprehensive annual reports on its export licensing activity undertaken under the Control of Exports Act 2008. It is my intention to publish the report for the period 1 January to 31 December 2015 later this month. As the Deputy will be aware, the previous report for the period 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014 was published by my Department in December 2015.

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