Middle East
Dail Éireann — 2024-03-20
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Paul Murphy (PBP), Dublin South-West

I want to ask the Taoiseach about the weapons coming through Irish airspace. They shot up in October of last year. They went from an average of about 100 exemptions for the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft per month to about 200. There were 190 in October, and they have stayed at a consistently high level since then. What happened in October? There was 7 October and then the genocidal onslaught by Israel on Gaza.
At the very least, it seems strange and coincidental that the carriage of munitions on civil aircraft through this country increased dramatically at the time the war in Gaza started. It seems likely, on the face of it, that there is a connection between the two, but we do not know because the Government refuses to inspect aircraft. It gives permissions but it does not inspect. Will it inspect the aircraft at Shannon Airport and elsewhere?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2024-03-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2024-03-20