An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-27
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Patricia Stephenson (SD), Labour Panel

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to seek that No. 13 be taken before No. 1. I refer to putting the Air Navigation and Transport (Amendment) Bill 2026 on the Order Paper. The Bill is grounded in the simple principle of upholding Irish neutrality, the sovereignty of our airspace and international law. For decades, Shannon Airport has been used as a transit hub for US military operations. Recent reporting in the media has raised serious questions about the scale of those activities and the lack of transparency surrounding them. The Irish Times has reported that 250 more US military aircraft passed through Irish airspace than was previously reported to the Government. At the same time, reports in The Ditch have consistently highlighted the role of commercial aircraft providers carrying weapons through Irish airspace. For example, in just one week in February last year Lufthansa carried over 1 tonne of munitions to Israel on three flights over Irish territory. American Airlines carried munitions used in the illegal war on Iran just last month, carried on passenger aircraft, including critical parts for launching missiles. None of these were sanctioned by the Government.
Under Irish navigation law, carrying weapons of war through Irish airspace requires an exemption from the transport Minister. Otherwise, it is an indictable offence. However, exemptions have not been applied for in many cases.
We have consistently heard from the Government that it is impossible to know what is being transported. Therefore, we need a random on-the-spot inspection regime. This is the central issue that my Bill seeks to address. The legislation addresses the claims by this Government that it does not have sufficient powers to inspect commercial operators transporting arms and munitions through the State. The Bill will introduce a random inspection and enforcement regime with penalties for flight operators who breach Ireland's rules on the transportation of munitions.
My Bill also responds to long held and growing public concerns about Ireland's complicity in actions linked to human rights abuses, particularly in relation to the use of Irish territory in the context of the cruel deportation flights carried out by ICE from the US last year, which we have recorded as landing in Shannon Airport between May 2025 and February this year. I do not believe the Government should be playing any part in these removals. We have seen reports of Palestinians being shackled on an aeroplane and deported to the West Bank, which, as we all know, is an occupied territory. Deporting people to an occupied territory is illegal under international law. It is horrifying that people are being shackled on aeroplanes that are landing and passing through Shannon Airport.
The Bill seeks to extend what qualifies as a State aircraft by including aircraft operating as custom flights, thus requiring custom flights to abide by human rights standards and seek exemptions before landing in Shannon. It is my expectation that the Irish Government would never provide an exemption for ICE-style deportations and would, therefore, stop these flights landing in Shannon.
This Bill is about oversight, accountability and ensuring that Ireland is not facilitating the movement of weapons or participation in actions that may undermine international law, human rights or the values that we claim to uphold. I hope my colleagues will support my proposal to amend the Order of Business.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-27