Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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48. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if an aircraft (details supplied) sought and received permission to transport arms or munitions through Shannon Airport on either of the dates it was at the airport. [22103/17]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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This question relates to National Air Cargo flight No. N176CA, which arrived at Shannon Airport from Norfolk US naval base on 20 April headed for Kuwait International Airport. The aircraft landed at Incirlik airbase in south east Turkey before returning to Shannon Airport. Given that it operated on a US military call sign, was an exemption sought for carrying weapons or ammunition on either of the dates on which it was at Shannon Airport?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​The Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order, SI 224 1973, as amended, provides that no munitions or weapons of war may be carried by an aircraft in Irish airspace without an exemption granted under the order. I confirm that, in accordance with Article 5 of the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order 1973, a munition of war permit was issued on 13 April 2017 for each of the National Airlines flights that landed in Shannon on 20 and 21 April 2017.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I tabled the question in response to a reply received by Shannonwatch in February when it lodged a freedom of information request for correspondence and records relating to a sample of 12 US military contracted flights which landed in Shannon Airport or flew through Irish airspace in October 2016. These were classified as civilian rather than military flights, even though they had military call signs and were operated by airlines that have indefinite delivery or indefinite quantity contracts to provide these services to the US military. In its response, the Department stated it had no records or information in respect of flights by Sun Country Airlines, UPS Airlines and National Air Cargo. The problem is that all of the Sun Country Airlines flights listed in the freedom of information request were en routeto the NATO airbase on the Turkish border with Syria, which is the primary location used by the US military for airstrikes against Syria and Iraq. It is beyond belief that these aircraft would travel through Irish airspace and would not be involved in military activity. The answer provided to Shannonwatch indicated that either the United States did not provide the Department with information on the flights or the Department did not provide information on them to Shannonwatch because the record shows that exemptions were not sought for many of them.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I am not familiar with those specific cases, so I will ask my Department to clarify the situation for the Deputy.

The Deputy also referred to the Turkish-Syrian situation, but that is a matter for the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, not me. I have and will make decisions on grounds of safety, have made certain demands and refused permission to several aircraft on safety grounds, but I am not entitled to do so on grounds of policy. That is a matter that the Deputy should refer to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Due to the obvious need in this regard, I decided recently that my Department should conduct an internal review of the aforementioned statutory instrument, the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order 1973, as amended. Given the age of that order and changes to international law since 1973, particularly as regards dangerous goods-----

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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The Minister might continue that point in his next response, if he does not mind.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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-----I am of the view that it would be timely to carry out a full review of SI 224 of 1973, the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Wallace wishes to contribute as well. Deputy Clare Daly will speak first.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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A review is long overdue and badly needed. Based on freedom of information requests, the indication is that the Department does not have reliable information. I remind the Minister that the Hague convention on neutrality specifically prohibits the transportation of munitions of war. It does not say that they must be on military aircraft - their transportation on civilian aircraft is also prohibited. The Minister must sign off on these craft before they are given an exemption. I remind him that, when Deputy Wallace moved his Bill in 2015, the Minister stated that he had deep concerns about this matter and that he regretted Ireland bending its knee to foreign authorities, for example, the US. He should follow through on that and there should be a strict timeframe for this review. There are flights through Shannon more than once per day with different call signs and military tags on civilian aircraft. They are not travelling for nothing. They are doing it for a reason. Those foreign authorities are heavily invested in war zones and we are facilitating that situation.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Regardless of what is written on these civilian aircraft, the Minister's Department is responsible for them. Does he not believe that it is long past time that we stopped allowing Shannon to be used as a US military base for wreaking havoc in areas of the Middle East and beyond? We understand that this issue is not all under the Minister's remit, given that the Departments of Justice and Equality and Defence are also involved, but he is responsible for civilian aircraft and there are civilian aircraft carrying munitions through Shannon to cause destruction and kill people day and night in other regions. Does he believe that we should still be facilitating that?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Deputies for straying into the area of foreign affairs, which is something that I do not intend to get into this afternoon. My duty, job and function in this matter are purely related to grounds of safety and civilian aircraft. That is where the question is. That said, and given the need to define the various functions between the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Justice and Equality and Transport, Tourism and Sport more clearly, I have launched a full root and branch review of the statutory instrument. That is what I propose to do. In light of the fact that so many aspects of the statutory instrument require review, it is likely that implementing the recommendations will require a new statutory instrument to replace SI 224, rather than piecemeal amendments to bring it into line with EU legislation. That is where I will leave the matter for the moment.