Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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84. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to release the full and detailed breakdown of Irish armament and dual-use export licenses granted to companies exporting to Israel since 2011; the identities of export companies; the full details of the items exported; the end-receivers of said exports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35340/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department is responsible for controls on the export of military items from Ireland. Under Irish law, military export licences have to be sought in respect of the goods and technology, and any components thereof, listed in the Annex to the Control of Exports (Goods and Technology) Order, S.I.216 of 2012 which reflects the EU Common Military List. The EU Common Military List includes military goods and technology, and components for such items that should be licensed for export from the Union. Items which are classified as “military goods” from an export control perspective and which are exported from Ireland involve components rather than military equipment.

My Department is also responsible for licensing those dual-use items controlled pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No. 428/2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items, as amended.

While the term “dual-use” refers to those items that are normally used for civilian or commercial purposes but may also have a military application, the vast majority of dual-use licences issued by my Department are for commercial purposes.

Application for the export of Military List and Dual-Use products to Israel, as with all other destinations, are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Applications are subject to a rigorous licence application process which centres on a careful assessment of the proposed end-user and the end-use. Furthermore, the Department consults with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in respect of all export licence applications involving Israel.

In view of security concerns and the relatively small number of export licence holders, it is the policy of my Department not to identify licence holders or recipients of controlled goods. The Information Commissioner has previously affirmed my Department’s decision to not release confidential export licensing information that could identify export licence holders.

I have however provided, as follows, details of licences issued for the export of Military List and dual-use items to all end-users in Israel from 2011 to date.

Licences issued for the export of Military List items to Israel, 2011 to date

Eleven licences for the export of Military List items to Israel have been issued from 2011 to date. Details are provided as follows:

2011

Three licences for the export of Military List products to Israel were issued in 2011, to the total value of €6.138 million. Two licences were issued for Military List (ML) “category 6” items while one was issued for ML “category 22” items. The ML “category 6 “refers to “Ground Vehicles and Components”, while ML “category 22” refers to “Technology”. “Technology” is that which is “required for the development, production or use of items or components specified in the EU Common Military List”.

2012

One licence for the export of Military List products to Israel was issued in 2012. The value of the licence was €39,525 and it was issued for ML “category 6” items, i.e. “Ground Vehicles and Components”.

2013

Five licences for the export of Military List products to Israel were issued in 2013, to the total value of €119,971. Two licences were issued for ML “category 6” items while three were issued for ML “category 10” items. The ML “category 10” refers to “Aircraft, lighter-than-air vehicles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles “UAVs”), aero-engines and aircraft equipment, related equipment, and components”.

2014

Two licences for the export of Military List products to Israel were issued during the first quarter of 2014, to the total value of €126,637. Both licences were issued for ML “category 6” items. No applications for the export of Military List products to Israel have been received since the end of the first quarter of 2014.

The figures provided above represent the maximum value which can be exported under the above export licences and not the value of the goods and technology actually exported under those licences. It is important to recall that items which were classified as “military goods” from an export control perspective and which were exported from Ireland involved components for inclusion in, rather than finished military equipment.

Licences issued for the export of dual-use items to Israel, 2011 to date

A small number of dual-use export licences are issued each year in respect of Israel. Twelve licences were issued in 2011, twenty in 2012, twenty in 2013, twenty one in 2014 and seventeen for the year to date. Further details of these licences are provided as follows.

Israel is also included as a destination on a proportion of the small number of global dual-use licences issued by my Department each year. Global dual-use licences are issued to companies that have a very high volume of relatively low-risk exports. These licences are issued subject to a number of strict conditions, such as a prohibition on their use for exports to military, police or State security forces end-users. Global licence holders must submit an application for an individual dual-use licence where they intend exporting to this category of end-users.

Individual dual-use licences issued in respect of exports to Israel

It is important to note that the figures provided above represent the maximum value which can be exported under the above export licences and not the value of the goods and technology actually exported under those licences.

The dual-use categories correspond to the product category classifications as set out in Annex I to the Dual-Use Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No. 428/2009, as amended):

Category 2: Materials Processing

Category 3: Electronics

Category 4: Computers

Category 5: Telecommunications and “information security”

Category 7: Navigation and avionics