Written answers
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Military Aircraft
Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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119. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of US military flights that have landed in Shannon Airport in each of the past six weeks in tabular form; the number of US military flights that have passed through Irish air space in each of the past six weeks, in tabular form;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35476/25]
Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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.The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is committed to the highest standards of transparency on this issue, and publishes monthly statistics in relation to overflights and landings of foreign military and state aircraft on the gov.ie website.The statistics for the month of May have already been published and are available on the gov.ie website. These statistics include the number of US military aircraft that landed in Shannon Airport and the number of US military flights which have received diplomatic clearance to overfly the State for the month of May. The statistics for the month of June will be published on the gov.ie website in the coming days, following tabulation of all of the relevant details at the end of the month, as per the Department’s usual procedure.
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