Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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53. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to outline the process for ensuring that all US military aircraft which pass through Shannon Airport are not carrying weapons or munitions of war. [49571/23]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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54. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of US military aircraft which have refuelled in Shannon Airport to date in 2023; and the following destination for each aircraft, in tabular form. [49572/23]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 53, 54 and 58 together.

Under the terms of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order, 1952, all foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly, or land in, the State require diplomatic clearance from the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Diplomatic clearance is subject to strict conditions, including that the aircraft is unarmed; that it carries no arms, ammunition or explosives; that it does not engage in intelligence gathering; and that the flight in question does not form part of a military exercise or operation.

This policy is well known and is fully understood by the United States and other international partners.

It is the longstanding policy of the Department of Foreign Affairs not to disclose details relating to the specifics of diplomatic clearance requests, as such information is provided by Embassies in the expectation of the maintenance of confidentiality.

However, the Department of Foreign Affairs does publish statistics in relation to overflights and landings of foreign military and state aircraft on the Department’s website. This includes details on the number of US military aircraft that have landed in Shannon Airport this year.