Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am reminded of the episode where Dougal holds up a sign saying "Nothing to see here". The Minister's response is somewhat bizarre. The clue is in the title - we are referring to midair refuelling planes landing repeatedly at Shannon. I have the details in this regard in my possession. I do not know about the Minister but on any occasion I have flown - even on a long-haul flight - I have never known a commercial plane to be refuelled in midair. I do not believe that happens. If we accept that to be true, what other credible explanation could there be for a series of refuelling planes to be landing and taking off from Shannon on the specified days other than that they were engaged in military exercises. They were refuelling other aircraft.

To be honest, the Minister did not reply to the matter as raised and that is disappointing. Shannon Airport held a very honourable and important place in the social and economic life of the mid-west up until 2001 when its use by the US military became widespread and totally unjustified. US military use contributes nothing to the profitability of Shannon Airport, except to fraudulently inflate the number of passengers passing through the facility. The Minister will also be aware that taxpayers have paid out over €40 million due to a ridiculous agreement with the US Government whereby we pay the air traffic control fees to Eurocontrol for US military flights. The Minister should give us back our civilian airport at Shannon.