Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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128. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if an aircraft (details supplied) was given a permit to land at Shannon Airport; if so, the reason therefor; the investigation that took place to determine whether its flights through Shannon Airport were linked to the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in November 2018 in view of the role of the Israeli military and government against Palestinians, with the support of the United States of America; and the attempts made to inspect the aircraft on either date that it landed at the airport. [50763/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952, made under the Air Navigation and Transport Act 1946, gives the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade primary responsibility for the regulation of activity by foreign military aircraft in Ireland.

The landing permission for this aircraft was granted on 25 October and was subject to the strict conditions that apply to overflights and landings by any and all foreign military aircraft; namely that the aircraft is unarmed, carries no arms, ammunition or explosives, is not engaged in intelligence gathering, and that the flight in question does not form any part of military exercises or operations. These flights, which took place on 31 October and 4 November respectively, were deemed to be in accordance with the stringent conditions that my Department demands.