Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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20. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation why information regarding the location in Saudi Arabia of the ultimate end-user of €1.7 million worth of military exports in 2013 and €13.2 million worth of military exports in 2014 was not contained in the 2013-2014 report on the operation of the Control of Exports Act 2008, with that data being subsequently published in an information note, and if the 2011-2012 report contained data on the ultimate end-user of military items that had passed through systems integrators, albeit in aggregated form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2019/16]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department publishes periodic reports on the operation of the Control of Exports Act, 2008 which provide information on the value and destination of licensed exports.

Included in these reports are details of the value, destination and category of military licences issued by my Department. My Department is responsible for controls on the export of these 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, S.I. 216 of 2012 which reflects the EU Common Military List.

The report for the period 2013 to 2014 provides information on the destination of military licences. In a small number of cases the licensed destination for military exports may not be the destination of final end-use. This can arise where, for example, a component is being exported to a systems integrator or manufacturer who will in turn export the final item to another destination. Due to a compiling error information on these cases was not included in the body of the report. When this oversight came to light steps were immediately taken to correct the omission. An information note on the destination of final end-use of military exports was published on my Department’s website at the same time as the report. These destinations of final-end use included destinations such as New Zealand and Norway, as well as Saudi Arabia.

Previous reports published by my Department included details of the destination of final end-use of military exports. Future reports will include these destinations in the body of the reports.

Where the destination of final end-use differs from the licensed destination, my Department receives information on the ultimate end-use and end-user of the product and seeks a declaration that where the final product is being re-exported it will be done so under a licence issued by the national licensing authority. The licence is then issued by my Department in the name of the systems integrator. Any export of the finished item is made under a licence issued by the national licensing authority.

I am committed to providing transparency on my Department’s export licensing regime and the report covering the period 2013 to 2014 provided greater transparency in two important areas. It was the first report to provide the value of actual exports made under global licences. It provided greater detail in the breakdown of the destination and licence value of individual dual-use export licences. Whereas previous reports confirmed whether the total value of export licences issued in respect of a particular destination was above or below €100,000, the report covering the period 2013 to 2014 gave the number of licences issued across three different value bands. These reports are published in addition to the summary data on the export of controlled products which is published on my Department’s website on a six-monthly basis.