Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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831. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question Number 488 of 19 July 2016, the locations from where the US military aircraft in question were coming and going; the operations they had been engaged in in the country that the flights originated from; and the operations they were to engage in in the country they were destined for. [24501/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952 gives the Minister for Foreign Affairs primary responsibility for the regulation of activity by foreign military aircraft in Ireland. Arrangements under which permission is granted for military aircraft, including US 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. The countries of origin noted on requests for US military aircraft to land in Shannon Airport during the month of June were as follows: Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Norway, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and USA.

The countries of destination noted on requests for US military aircraft to land in Shannon Airport during the month of June were as follows: Canada, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and USA.

In deciding upon requests for permission for foreign military aircraft to land at Irish airports, each request is examined to ensure that it conforms to the criteria I have outlined above. I am satisfied that the US authorities are fully aware of the need to comply with the strict conditions attaching to permission for military aircraft to land at Irish airports, including that the flights in question must not form part of military exercises or operations.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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832. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question Number 488 of 19 July 2016, the reason it is necessary for the US military to engage in airport familiarisation in a small airport in the west of Ireland, given the United States has thousands of airports of its own adequate to such a task. [24502/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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It is normal procedure for military pilots, including those of our own Air Corps, to conduct landings at airfields outside of their home country. Aviation, whether civil or military, is an international activity and aviation procedures, rules and practices can vary from country to country. Familiarisation with differentlocal procedures, geography and meteorological conditions contributes to greater safety.