Donna McGettigan (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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188. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the action he intends to take in response to Israeli forces recently shooting at Irish peacekeepers serving with the United Nations mission in Lebanon, beyond strongly worded statements; if he agrees that it is past time to introduce sanctions against the Israeli state; and if he accepts that the arms and munitions used may well have been transported through Shannon Airport. [30556/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Our Peacekeepers in Lebanon are part of an international, UN-mandated force under the command of UNIFIL. Whilst the Irish Patrol were not directly targeted in the incident on 29 May, I unreservedly condemn any endangerment of the safety of our peacekeepers. The incident in Yaroun was completely unacceptable. On my instructions, a formal demarche was delivered to both the United Nations and the Israeli Mission to the UN in New York to express the Government's deep concern regarding the unacceptable nature of the incident and disapprobation at the actions of the Israeli Defence Forces. We have also requested that UNIFIL formally raise these concerns as a matter of urgency with the appropriate Israeli authorities.

The Government has committed to progress legislation prohibiting trade in goods with illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory in line with the Programme for Government. It is the Government’s view that this is an obligation under international law, as clarified by the Advisory Opinion issued by the ICJ on 19 July 2024. The next step is the preparation of the General Scheme of the proposed Bill and work is underway in my Department with a view to bringing an update on that work to Government in the coming weeks. Ireland continues to press for action at EU level in light of the ICJ Advisory Opinion.

Finally, with regard to the question raised on Shannon Airport, 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 of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 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. Since October 2023, diplomatic clearance has been granted on a small number of occasions for US military aircraft to land in Shannon for the specific purpose of transporting senior officials travelling from the United States to the Middle East. Stringent procedures for diplomatic clearance were followed in full on each of these occasions.

Under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders 1973 and 1989, it is expressly prohibited for civil aircraft to carry munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory, without being granted an exemption to do so by the Minister for Transport. Since October 2023, no applications have been received or exemptions granted to permit the carriage of munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory for a flight by a civil aircraft destined for a point in Israel.