Air Navigation and Transport (Arms Embargo) Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-22
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Tom Clonan (IND), University of Dublin

I will try to be brief. This amendment is about simply inspecting what is in the cargo hold.
Prior to the Minister of State's arrival, I said that there is a compelling primary intelligence interest in trying to ascertain what is on aircraft that are coming through our airspace and that are using Shannon for refuelling and onward navigation. The reason I say that is because the Israeli military has been using cluster munitions in south Lebanon, near Irish positions. Where does it get them? It gets them from the United States. Where in the United States are they made? They are made at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant. Delivery systems are made at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania. How do they get to Israel? Through our airspace.
I accept the point the Minister of State made about us having primary concern for our troops in Lebanon. However, if you go today to Wadi Zibqin, Wadi Baruz or Wadi Deir Siryan, which are all near where the Irish are based, you will find that they are littered with cluster munitions that have been deployed by the Israeli military and that have come through our airspace. I do not for one minute doubt that the Minister of State values the welfare of our troops. He says he visited them. I have been there. I have been under fire. I have seen what the impact of these weapons is on the innocent Lebanese men, women and children with whom we have built a relationship over the past 50 years. This is not a war; it is a genocide. Here is something we can do to further ensure the safety of our troops. I know that force protection and the safety of our young men and women is paramount for the Government. I absolutely accept that, but we are in error if we are not, at a bare minimum, checking aircraft on the ground in Shannon to see what is being transported to the Israelis for use in south Lebanon where our young men and women are stationed. This is especially true as we move up to the final deployment. Those Irish troops, and the innocent people who are being slaughtered, are my paramount concern.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-22