Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Since 2016, there has been an almost 70% increase in the number of aircraft permitted to bring weapons of war through Ireland or on Irish-registered aircraft. A significant number of flights carrying weapons destined for Israel have travelled through Irish airspace without permission. One would have to wonder, given the carte blanche that apparently exists in the relevant Department, why those flight operators did not simply apply for exemptions because the likelihood is that any such requests would immediately have been rubber-stamped. Since 2016, the Department has refused just 1% of the 9,848 applications it received. This is damning and represents a complete undermining of our neutrality. How can we be neutral when we facilitate the transfer of these weapons, many of which are destined to be dropped on densely populated areas of Gaza and which will annihilate the maximum number of innocent civilians. We have long called on this Government to do more than use strong words when it comes to the genocide in Gaza and to act instead. It turns out that it has been doing so by green-lighting weapons transfers. Will the Taoiseach indicate if he has concerns and if he intends to do anything about this?

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