Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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857. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on a matter (details supplied); the details of yearly numbers or reliable estimates in each of the years 2001 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19236/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department has responsibility for the provision of diplomatic clearance to foreign military and State aircraft to land in and overfly the State.

Questions with regards to the financial operations of Shannon airport and the operations of civil aircraft, including those under contract to other States, should be directed to the Department of Transport.

Permission for foreign military aircraft to overfly the State is subject to strict conditions. These routinely 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. Overflights by US military aircraft are permitted without prior notification, where the aircraft are unarmed, carry only cargo and passengers and comply with navigational requirements.

The table below provides details of the overflights granted permission from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2020, along with details of the number of aircraft granted permission to land at Shannon airport in the same time period.

This data has been compiled by staff working remotely due to Covid-19 restrictions. It is limited to the most recent six full years, for which complete electronic records are available. Staff do not have access to the physical files required to compile data for the earlier time range. I will be in direct contact at a later stage with the Deputy with regard to the remainder of the data he has requested.