Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

To me, that response says "long finger" and "procrastinate". The Minister has been in government for five years and throughout that time there have been serious concerns. One is in respect of the use of Irish airports, particularly Shannon Airport, and that there could be a facilitation of the transportation of munitions bound for war. Not a single inspection had taken place in this Government's term.

Now we find out - not through any efforts on the part of the Minister's Department but from a media organisation - that it is very likely that Irish sovereign airspace has been abused in a way that runs contrary to both international and domestic law. The Minister's response is that his officials are looking into it. By the time they come back with a substantive response, the Minister will be out of government and it will be somebody else's responsibility.

I put it to the Minister that this is not good enough. It is a very serious matter. The Minister is correct that this House is largely united in saying we do not want to have any hand, act or part in Israel's genocide in Gaza or its ongoing flagrant breaches of international law. Most Members of this House cannot do anything about that issue but the Minister can. He could have but did not. The articles in The Ditch first started to appear in August. In response to a parliamentary question I tabled, the Minister stated that The Ditch had not furnished him with the information that formed the basis of its articles. He did not say in that response that he had not actually sought it. Will the Minister confirm that at this point there is nothing in any of the articles in The Ditch , which point to specific individual flights that traversed Irish airspace with munitions of war ultimately bound for the IDF, that he can refute? Will he confirm that each of the operators in question has been instructed that it is not permitted to traverse Irish airspace until this matter is resolved? That should be the first step, at a minimum.

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