Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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20. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of licence refusals to exporters producing parts for military goods abroad from 2011 to 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37152/15]

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 must 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, SI.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 licenced 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, along with sports firearms and mining 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. 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.

All applications for export licenses are rigorously assessed having regard to the end-use and the end-user and against well-established criteria. The export licensing process centres on ensuring, as far as possible, that the item to be exported will be used by the stated end-user for the stated end-use, and will not be used for an illicit purpose, e.g. for use in connection with WMD. The safeguards built into the licensing system facilitate robust checks and cross checks in this regard.

The Department may refuse an export licence, following consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other EU and international export licensing authorities as appropriate.

Export Licence Applications Denied

Two of these refusals, one made in 2011 and one made in 2104, were made in respect of export licence applications for military list items. The remainder were made in respect of proposed exports of dual-use items.