Air Navigation and Transport (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-10 ============================================================ Sarah O'Reilly (AON), Agricultural Panel I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, and I thank Senator Stephenson for bringing it to the House. I support and agree with this Bill. It is sensible legislation that addresses a clear gap in our law. It is not radical or complicated. All it states is that if Ireland has rules governing what can pass through our airspace, then we should have the means to enforce those rules. At the moment, this is not the case. The law requires permissions for weapons of war to be carried through Irish airports or Irish airspace, but we have repeatedly heard that there is no proper inspection regime and limited ability to act when those rules are breached. That leaves us in the absurd position where we have laws without meaningful enforcement. Passing this Bill would give gardaí powers to inspect aircraft, would introduce penalties for breaches and allow for random inspections so that compliance can be verified rather than simply assumed. It also addresses concerns about state-operated flights from the US, including deportation flights. We need to ensure that Ireland is not inadvertently facilitating actions that may run contrary to international humanitarian or human rights law. If our airports or airspace are being used in this way, that raises serious legal or ethical questions. Surely we should have the power to find out. I think most of us are in agreement that Irish sovereignty should mean something. The laws passed by these Houses have to be enforced by the State. If they cannot be enforced then there is no point to the legislation at all. A recent poll in The Irish Times showed that 71% of people believe a guarantee of Ireland's neutrality should be added to the Constitution. People want our neutrality to govern how we interact with global conflicts. They want more than just lip service paid to the concept of neutrality. If we claim to be neutral but turn a blind eye to what passes through our airspace and airports then we allow neutrality to be nothing more than a label. In the past two and a half years, tens of thousands of children in Gaza and the West Bank have been killed. Their lives have been treated as completely disposable. Only last Friday, seven-month-old Sam Fahd Abu Haikal died in his mother's arms after being shot dead by the IDF. He is not just a casualty of war. That family has lost their little boy. I know the majority of Irish people want no complicity in that kind of violence. None of us can say with certainty where every bullet or round of ammunition originated but we should ask ourselves whether we are content to operate a system where aircraft pass through or over Ireland carrying military cargo with no prospect of inspection. Is that really the standard we want to set? Is it what the Irish people expect when they talk about neutrality? Investigative reporting has repeatedly raised concerns about commercial flights carrying ammunition and other military-related cargo over Irish territory. If there are no investigative powers and no penalties for these airlines, they will continue to breach Irish and international law. This debate comes at a time when the Government is proposing major changes to Ireland's approach to neutrality through the removal of the triple lock. This would be a disastrous mistake. Poll after poll has shown that neutrality has enduring support among the Irish public and is, in fact, a key part of how people understand Ireland's place in the world. The majority do not wish to see the triple lock removed. If the Government is so sure of its mandate, it should put it to the people. Moving Ireland away from our long-standing history of neutrality should require a referendum. The only reason the Government will not call a referendum is that it knows, as do we, that the removal of the triple lock would be voted down. It is concerning that the Government would push ahead with this knowing that it does not have the support of the Irish public. Fianna Fáil has abandoned its roots and given in to Fine Gael's desire to be militarily aligned in Europe. As I see it, this Bill is about consistency. If we value neutrality, we should enforce the laws that protect it. If we value sovereignty, we should ensure our authorities have the powers to uphold it. I once again thank Senator Stephenson for bringing forward this Bill. I hope the Government changes its mind and supports the Bill. I also note that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is once again missing in action. This shows the amount of respect he has for the people and for this House. --- 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/2026-06-10/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:02+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-10