Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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505. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of requests made by foreign aircraft to carry munitions through Ireland in 2014; the number of these that were granted; the breakdown by country; the number that were for aircraft that landed at Shannon Airport; the total number of military aircraft that landed at Shannon Airport in 2014; the names of the state forces to which these aircraft belong; and the reason these aircraft used the landing facilities at Shannon. [2792/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Under the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952, all foreign military aircraft require the permission of the Minister for Foreign Affairs to overfly or land in the State. In 2014 permission was granted on 741occasions for the landing of foreign military aircraft belonging to the following countries to land at Shannon Airport: Argentina, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Egypt, France, Italy, Libya, Panama, USA.

Most requests for foreign military aircraft to use the landing facilities at Shannon Airport concern aircraft refueling, crew and passenger rest, with smaller numbers relating to the transport of dignitaries, flight crew training, airport familiarization and aircraft maintenance.

Arrangements under which permission is granted for foreign military aircraft to land at Irish airports are governed by strict conditions. These include stipulations that the aircraft must be unarmed, carry no arms, ammunition or explosives and must not engage in intelligence gathering, and that the flights in question must not form part of military exercises or operations.

In accordance with the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order, 1973, an exemption must be obtained from my colleague, the Minister for Transport, by commercial aircraft carriers for the carriage of munitions on board civilian aircraft.