Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On 12 July, in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, I asked the Minister, Deputy Coveney, if the constitutionality of overflights by the RAF had ever been considered by the Cabinet. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, replied that “We do not have overflight arrangements with the RAF, to be clear.”Yesterday afternoon in the House of Commons, following a question from Mr. Ian Paisley Jr., the DUP MP for North Antrim, on the issue of overflights by the RAF in Irish airspace, the relevant Minister stated:

The hon. Gentleman will know, however, that RAF jets have deployed into Irish airspace on occasion. It is for the Irish Government to set out their policy on why, when and how.

Today, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence issued a statement. The statement read:

We do not comment on issues concerning arrangements of national security. The Government's engagement in international security cooperation is aimed at ensuring public safety and is conducted with full respect for Irish sovereign decision-making authority and for Ireland's long-standing policy of military neutrality.

We cannot claim military neutrality if we are depending upon a third country to defend our airspace. The issue of Irish neutrality has long been a question in this House. Many Ministers down through the years have declared how Ireland is neutral. We are militarily aligned with the UK, which is a member of NATO. As a result, our airspace is being protected by NATO aircraft.

Article 15 of our Constitution - of which we are the guardians - states that it is the Houses of the Oireachtas that has the authority to raise armed forces. The question of the RAF overflying our airspace has never come before the Houses of Oireachtas. The matter has not been debated in the Houses. Question about this matter arise today as a result of the statement made in the House of Commons yesterday. This Oireachtas is faced with a dilemma. Has the Minister knowingly misled the joint committee or is he not aware of the agreement that is in place to allow armed RAF aircraft to fly though our airspace? This is a question for the Oireachtas to resolve.

On whether an agreement should have been entered into, the question for the Oireachtas is does our Constitution require that such a decision would come before the Houses and be agreed by them? We cannot claim neutrality while we depend on another country to defend our airspace. We cannot declare neutrality while we are in a military alliance with another country. I respectfully request that the Minister for Defence come before the House to explain to us the dichotomy with which we are faced. Is there an agreement in place? If there is, who put it in place, when was it put in place and why was it put in place? Why was the General Officer Commanding the Air Corps and the director of military aviation informed at the time the agreement was put in place?

This is the most serious constitutional issue that has come before the House in my time, and for as long as I can remember before that. People talk all the time about it taking 800 years to get the Brits out of Ireland. They are not out of Ireland. They are protecting our skies. I understand they are building a ship to protect the cables beneath our waters.