Regulation of Drones Bill 2025: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-29
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Ruth Coppinger (PBP), Dublin West

In fairness, the company has testified at Oireachtas committees. It is perfectly out there. A representative of that company is quoted in today's paper so it is a bit silly to say we cannot talk about the company.
In any case, it is important to show people how the company has operated without permission. I am assuming the Minister of State does not think it is okay to just breach planning permission and that people should go through the planning process. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, said there were gaps. There are not gaps; it is just a Wild West situation where these people can do what they want to do.
We all agree with drone technology for certain uses, but the impact it is having is clear in the example from a resident who wrote to me.
Beyond the serious privacy and safety concerns, persistent drone noise is disruptive and it undermines the quiet, residential character of their neighbourhood. It adds yet another layer of stress to daily life and reflects a broader problem - the growing incursion of tech companies into our communities and lives without any democratic oversight or meaningful accountability. It is about profit. Drone delivery of fast food and consumer goods is not a public necessity.
That sums it up.
Feedback was sought by a resident in Castleknock through a Whatsapp group. The replies were as follows:
I worry about the environmental impact ... The frequency of flights has noticeably increased ... There was a close encounter with a bird last week ... The presence of drones makes outdoor meals and dining uncomfortable ... Why weren't we properly consulted? ... The noise echoes in our cul-de-sac ... My autistic child finds the noise overwhelming ... My elderly parents find it overwhelming ... The drones passed directly over a family picnic ... This is not what I signed up for. There are so many messages about the feeling of being under surveillance and of having absolutely no say.
Drone Action in Dublin 15 is a group of residents who got together and produced a newsletter. As TDs, we are always giving out newsletters and the feedback we get is generally very minimal. Drone Action sent out 5,000 newsletters and got back 300 responses. They asked for people who are interested in a no-fly zone over their house because representatives of the company operating this currently told the transport committee it would respect that. So 300 replied to this, which that is a huge rate of feedback. These are not just moaning Minnies, as this company tries to portray them as. It is very disparaging towards local residents and it is saying this is politically orchestrated, when the person running it is also very political themselves and regularly shares posts about Trump, military stuff and so on.
The key point is that the communities themselves must be the final arbiters of this. Community assent has to be sought for this technology. We need a law whereby commercial drone delivery is not allowed in very built-up residential areas or for commercial fast food. There are occasions where food might need to be delivered, which is no problem in outlying or isolated areas, but it is too disruptive. Given there are one or two companies doing it now, what it will be like when there are more companies doing it?
There are also employment issues. They are putting people like delivery drivers and riders out of jobs. The economic impact is always talked about from the drone base. They have to be gotten to the drone base. The products are often driven to the drone base. It is not environmentally clean either.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-29/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:34+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-29