Air Navigation and Transport (Arms Embargo) Bill 2024 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-22
============================================================

Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

It is clear that amendment No. 7 interacts with amendment No. 1, as it pertains to authorised persons, and amendment No. 3, as it pertains to Article 8 of the order. It is clear that Article 8 of the order was drafted from the perspective of an aircraft being on the ground as opposed to being in flight. As such, and in the context of the comments on amendment No. 3 regarding what we have been speaking about, it would appear to broaden the existing powers in the order to provide for the instruction to land. If I am honest about it and if we look at it in the context of the time for assessment of the compatibility of this provision with international rules in relation to aircraft in flight but also regarding the initial examination, there is not enough detail provided on these issues within the legislation. How do we communicate with a pilot? What do you do during the flight? What are the safety implications? Senator Clonan spoke about inspections of the cargo in the hold. It is for those reasons that we are not opposing the amendment but are not supporting the Bill. The explanation I have given is that the narrow scope of the proposed inspection regime is being broadened by what the Senator is asking here in respect of existing powers. It creates more than what we need at this point, but perhaps the Minister can engage further with the Senator in the Lower House. I know she is not a Member of the Lower House, but it can be extended to other Members of the Houses in that case.

---

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/seanad/2026-04-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:50+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-22