Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is somewhat poignant that we are having this discussion on the day the Italian Government announced it cannot take any more migrants. In the region of 10,000 people have already made the journey to Italy, many of them fleeing war in the Middle East. Ireland is a country that claims to be neutral and we cannot shake our heads and say it is nothing to do with us when we continue to allow Shannon Airport to be used on a regular basis by the US military. On Monday 5 June, an inconspicuous US Air Force special operations aeroplane left Shannon heading for the Middle East. The C-146A Wolfhound, 12-3060, looks like a normal civilian plane but is far from it. This aircraft is used to support special forces operating in war zones. It is not me saying this. The US Air Force says the C-146A's "primary mission is to provide U.S. Special Operations Command flexible, responsive and operational movement of small teams needed in support of Theater Special Operations Commands". Air Force Special Operations Command aircrews conduct air lift missions to prepared and semi-prepared airfields around the world according to the US Air Force. Does this mean that Shannon Airport is now considered by the US to be one of its own prepared or semi-prepared military airfields? The US Air Force's website says that the plan supports overseas contingency operations across four geographic combatant commands, in other words engaged in active fighting with enemy forces. In the first six months of this year, 22,000 US troops passed through Shannon and 377 exemptions to allow US troops carry weapons on civilian planes were granted. In the past 16 years, 2.5 million armed US troops have landed in Shannon and taken off again for war. In the past week, our new Taoiseach reaffirmed the Irish Government's commitment to neutrality in a media question when he was in Brussels. When he was asked if the time had come for a revision of our neutrality he said:

No. Ireland's position on neutrality is longstanding. We believe that by being a country that is neutral but not being part of any military alliance, that it actually makes us stronger in the world, that we're more respected ... beyond this continent, because we aren't members of NATO and we don't take part in military alliance, our focus is on other things, like development for example.

What are those assurances from the Taoiseach worth when we have a scenario in which 4,000 US troops a month pass through Shannon Airport? The Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, told my colleague, Deputy Connolly, in February that providing overflight and landing facilities for the US military does not amount to a form of military alliance and that strict conditions are in place.

That is utter nonsense. We are sick hearing about what is not on the aircraft. We want to know what is on them and the only way to find out is by searching them.

I have no doubt the Minister of State, Deputy English, will tell me that the movement of troops is a matter for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, rather than the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, although he may yet prove me wrong in that regard. It is not good enough to kick this issue around Departments by claiming that these are civilian aeroplanes. They are militarily contracted aircraft and, as such, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade should take responsibility for them and ensure that they are searched. While strict conditions are supposed to apply to these flights, the Department does not know whether they are being met because the aircraft are not searched and we will not have certainty until they are searched. What we do know is that these flights are not transporting people halfway around the world on their holidays.

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