Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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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.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will understand, my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, is engaged in important business elsewhere and is unable to reply in person. For this reason, I will respond on his behalf. As I do not have details of the aircraft to which the Deputy referred, I cannot respond to the specific matters raised by the Deputy. I was asked to respond to a more general issue.

I welcome the opportunity to reaffirm the Government's policy on landings by foreign military aircraft and reiterate its absolute commitment to maintaining our policy of military neutrality. Responsibility for the regulation of foreign aircraft landing in or overflying the State is shared between Departments. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has primary responsibility for the regulation of foreign military aircraft, while the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport leads on regulation of foreign civil aircraft. As the issue for debate is addressed to the former Minister, I will confine my focus to foreign military aircraft landing at Shannon Airport.

Successive Governments have made landing facilities at Shannon Airport available to the United States for many years. The facility to land is also made available to military aircraft from other countries. It is for reasons of geography that the majority of landings are made by US aircraft. Since 2013, permission to land has been granted in respect of requests from more than 20 other countries also. Landings are permitted on condition that the requests satisfy a number of conditions which have been set out in this House. Aircraft must be unarmed, must carry no arms, ammunition or explosives, must not engage in intelligence gathering and the flights must not form part of military exercises or operations. These conditions apply to landings by all foreign military aircraft, including US military aircraft.

On 24 November last, the House had the opportunity to debate the Thirty-Fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Neutrality) Bill 2016. While the Government opposed the Bill, the debate was a valuable opportunity to make perfectly clear that the Government remains absolutely committed to Ireland's long-standing policy of military neutrality. As the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, informed the House during that debate, Ireland's foreign policy statement, The Global Island, clearly indicates that our policy of military neutrality remains a core element of foreign policy. There are no plans to change this long-standing policy.

The Government permits foreign military aircraft to land at Shannon Airport only if they comply with these conditions, which are of the strictest nature and which are imposed precisely because of our military neutrality. When requesting permission for a landing, the United States, like all other states seeking permission to land aircraft here, must indicate in writing that the proposed landing meets the conditions. Bilateral relations with friendly nations, including the US, are founded on trust and information provided by diplomatic missions is accepted in good faith as being accurate. Moreover, in accordance with international practice, foreign military aircraft that are granted permission to land in Ireland are not subject to inspection. I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State in saying his reply has an incredibly familiar ring to it, probably because I have heard it many times before. He will be aware that in a High Court case in 2003, Mr. Justice Kearns ruled that a neutral state may not permit the movement of large numbers of troops or munitions of one belligerent state through its territory en route to a theatre of war with another state. Shannonwatch gathers information daily on militarily contracted aircraft, which are described as civilian aircraft and move groups of troops from one belligerent state to a theatre of war, the devastating consequences of which have given us a refugee crisis greater than any previous refugee crisis.

The Government hides behind its conditions that military aircraft landing here must not be armed, must not be involved in military exercises, etc., but these conditions do not apply to aircraft contracted by the US military. It is a matter for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to issue permits for such landings. In that respect, I welcome the statement by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, that he will have an examination carried out of definitions of civilian and state aircraft and of the monitoring, inspections and oversight in place in this regard. However, I want to know what the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade proposes to do on this issue. The previous Minister, Deputy Flanagan, spoke about keeping the matter under review. What does this mean given that we do not have evidence of any form of review taking place? Does the Department have plans to search aircraft? If not, what is the problem with searching them, even if only to prove us wrong? Why did thousands of troops from the United States transit through Shannon Airport in the past month? Why were exemptions obtained for hundreds of personal weapons during these flights if they are not engaged in military exercises? Someone is spending a hell of a lot of money to move troops from one corner of the world to another almost twice daily. We will be responsible if we do not start exercising our responsibility and examine what is going on.

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy contends that allowing US military aircraft to land at Shannon Airport amounts to a change in or weakening of our policy of neutrality which enjoys wide public support and has been pursued by successive Governments for more than half a century. As has been repeatedly stated in the House, that policy has not changed. Ireland is not a member of a military alliance and the Government has no intention of changing that long-standing policy. The facility granted to the United States and other countries to land aircraft at Shannon Airport is transparent and open and the strict conditions that apply to such landings are a matter of public record, having been set out many times in the House.

The practical implementation of the conditions for granting permission for landings by foreign military aircraft is guided by and reflects Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality to which the Government is full committed. This policy has gone hand in hand with our belief that international engagement is critical to enhancing co-operation and reducing conflict in the world.