Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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318. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if, when an Air Corps CASA aircraft was refused entry into Swedish airspace, this was due to the fact the submitted paperwork completed by his Department failed to meet the necessary requirements of the Swedish authorities; if he will provide the requirements that must be met when filing paperwork for an Air Corps plane to enter foreign airspace; and the reason on this occasion those requirements were not met. [23788/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Air Corps operates two CASA 235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft, which are unarmed aircraft and primarily used for sea fisheries protection and maritime patrolling. They are also on occasion tasked with providing support such as military transport to the wider Defence Forces.  It is a condition of diplomatic clearance that the Air Corps pass details, via the Department of Defence, of each proposed flight, i.e., date, timing, etc. to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who forward the request for permission to the relevant country in question.  When military goods are transported by Air Corps aircraft overseas, they are listed in the diplomatic clearance application of the destination country. This information is used so as to ensure that, in the event of an in-flight emergency, the rescue and recovery services are alerted to the presence of said goods.

The Deputy will appreciate that the laws, practices and procedures in this area differ from country to country and that timelines for processing of applications can also vary, depending on the type of aircraft, the nature of the cargo and whether the aircraft in question proposes to land in or to overfly the country in question.

I can assure the Deputy that the usual procedure in obtaining diplomatic clearance for the Air Corps to fly was followed by the Department of Defence. However, there were delays in securing this clearance.  For security reasons, it would not be appropriate to get into the specific details.

I also wish to assure the Deputy that we fully respect the laws, practices and procedures of other countries with respect to the control of military aircraft in their airspace.  Similarly we expect other countries to respect our laws, practices and procedures with respect to the control of foreign military aircraft in our airspace.