Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952 gives the Minister for Foreign Affairs primary responsibility for the regulation of activity by foreign military aircraft in Ireland. Permission must be sought in advance for landings by all foreign military aircraft, including those from the US. If granted, permission is subject to strict conditions. Aircraft must be unarmed, carry no arms, ammunition or explosives and must not engage in intelligence gathering. Furthermore, the flights in question must not form part of military exercises or operations.

All applications submitted by the US Embassy concerning landings by military aircraft for the period covered by the Senator’s list confirmed that the flights met each of these conditions and they were approved on this basis. Overflights by US military aircraft - and military aircraft from other friendly countries - are permitted without prior notification on the basis that the aircraft are unarmed, carry only cargo and passengers and comply with navigational requirements. Ireland has bad a positive bilateral relationship with the US for a period that predates the official foundation of our State, as has been clear during our 1916 Centenary reflections. Successive Governments have made landing facilities at Shannon available to the US for well over 50 years. This facility is also made available for military aircraft from other countries that can be regarded as friendly. From 2013 to 2015, permission was granted in respect of requests from 23 countries. The same conditions apply to all landings by military aircraft.

Senator Gavan raises the issue of Ireland’s neutrality. Successive Governments have pursued a policy of military neutrality over many years. This is characterised by non-participation in military alliances. The continued commitment to this policy was reconfirmed last year in the foreign policy review, The Global Island, which stated, "Our policy of military neutrality remains a core element of Irish foreign policy". Arrangements for landings at Shannon do not amount to any form of military alliance with the US or with any other country and are fully consistent with Ireland’s policy of military neutrality. The Senator referred to Ireland’s international law obligations and used the term "belligerent state", which is used in the Hague Convention V on the rights and duties of neutral powers and persons in case of war on land. It has been argued that our policy on landings at Shannon Airport violates the Convention but that is not the case. The convention, concluded in 1907, concerns what was regarded at that time as the sovereign right of states to wage war and the rights and obligations of non-participant states which remained neutral. War is no longer accepted as a legitimate instrument of national policy and the use of force is regulated by the UN Charter, which sets out a framework of internationally-accepted principles concerning collective security. The charter has superseded the 1907 convention and the distinction made by it between belligerents and neutrals is no longer relevant. The 1907 convention applies to the waging of war, which is an armed conflict between states, but it does not apply to conflicts within a state or to conflict between states and non-state actors, which represent the vast majority of modem armed conflicts. Only 34 countries are states parties to the convention. Ireland is not one of them, so the convention's application does not arise.

Ireland's approach is broadly similar to that of other neutral European states. I am satisfied that the Government’s long-standing policy in respect of Shannon is consistent with our military neutrality and our obligations under international law.