For a long time we have allowed the US military to use Shannon Airport. Over a number of years, we have seen countless protests on this subject - it has been decades, in fact - of a threat to our neutrality and a facilitation of US military operations which contravene our foreign policy. Despite this, on 12 October a US Department of War charter plane carrying troops and munitions of war to Israel was authorised by the Tánaiste and Minister for foreign affairs to stop at Shannon Airport. Why did he allow this and will he continue to do so?

I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 and 162 together.

Responsibility for the regulation of foreign aircraft landing or overflying the State is shared between Departments. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has primary responsibility for the regulation of foreign military and other foreign state aircraft, while the Department of Transport leads on the regulation of civil aircraft. Under the terms of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952, all foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly, or land in, the State require diplomatic clearance from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Diplomatic clearance is subject to strict conditions, including that the aircraft is unarmed; that it carries no arms, ammunition or explosives; that it does not engage in intelligence gathering; and that the flight in question does not form part of a military exercise or operation. It is expressly prohibited for civil aircraft to carry munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory without being granted an exemption to do so by the Minister for Transport.

The system of exemptions is operated under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders 1973 and 1989 by the Department of Transport. In 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, no applications have been received or exemptions granted for the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft to a point in Israel.

The policy of diplomatic clearance is well known and is fully understood by the United States and other international partners, and is done in full compliance with Ireland’s traditional policy of military neutrality. Since October 2023, diplomatic clearance has been granted on a small number of occasions for US military aircraft to land in Shannon for the specific purpose of transporting senior officials travelling from the United States to the Middle East. Stringent procedures for diplomatic clearance were followed in full on each of these occasions.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is committed to the highest standards of transparency on this issue, which is why it publishes monthly statistics in relation to overflights and landings of foreign military and state aircraft on the gov.ie website. The current information on the website covers the period from 2015 to last month, September 2025. My Department will continue to publish details relating to overflights and landings on a monthly basis, as well as work to compile and publish historical data relating to overflights and the landing of foreign military aircraft where and when possible.

In November 2023, the then Fine Gael leader, Leo Varadkar, told the Dáil that no US military flights going through Shannon were going to Israel. This seems to have been the policy of successive Irish Governments since 2006. Now it appears that as well as diplomatic clearance, the Department of Transport signed off on the plane carrying munitions of war through Irish airspace to Israel, as well as US troops. Why now? Cen fáth anois? After all that has happened, after all Israel has done with US support, is this acceptable to the Minister, his Department and the Government? Why is it acceptable to allow our airspace and airports to be used to carry troops and weapons to Israel? I ask again: why has this been allowed? Will the Minister continue to allow it?

What date is the Deputy referring to?

It is 12 October.

In 2023?

No, 12 October, this month.

My apologies. This is what appeared online in relation to a story alleging that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had authorised a US military plane to refuel at Shannon Airport on Sunday on its way from what is now called the Department of War airbase to an Israel Defense Forces base.

There was a second article on 17 October that reiterated the claim that the State had allowed the transfer of munitions of war on board a US military plane and, indeed, that it had apparently been authorised by me to touch down at Shannon Airport to travel through Irish territory on its way to Israel.

Having reviewed the Department’s records, the flight in question was a civil aircraft that travelled from South Carolina to Athens in Greece and landed in Shannon Airport on 12 October for a technical stopover. As this was a civil aircraft, no request for diplomatic clearance would have been sought or required from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The granting or refusal of an application for an exemption to carry ammunition of war is a matter for the Department of Transport. As the flight was carrying the unloaded personal weapons of troops, it was required to apply to the Department of Transport for such an exemption. The flight in question received an exemption to carry munitions from the Department of Transport.

I find it baffling that the Minister cannot tell me why he has allowed this to happen. He is saying that it is the Department of Transport. Surely this is a foreign affairs issue, and surely he should be taking responsibility for it. It has been raised in this Chamber many times. It was bad enough that we have stood by and allowed munitions of war to pass through Irish airspace en route to Israel without permission, a crime the Government has failed to prosecute a single company for. It was bad enough that we have continued to allow the US military to use our airports despite all the harm it has done and continues to do globally in the execution of US foreign policy. What is worse is that we are now allowing the US military and the US Department of War, newly named, to use Shannon Airport en route to Israel. I am not just asking when enough is enough. Why has the Government taken this complicity a step further? Why has the Government decided to do so now?

I have been quite clear in relation to this matter, in relation to the role my Department plays, in relation to the types of flights that require diplomatic clearance, in relation to the monthly log that is published on the Government’s website and in relation to the system of exemptions that operates under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders 1973 and 1989, as operated by the Department of Transport. I have also been clear that in 2023, 2024 and to date this year, no applications have been received or exemptions granted for the carriage of munitions of war on civil aircraft to a point in Israel. I think this is important. That is why I have put the information on the record of the Dáil that my Department has informed me that it has reviewed its records, and the flight in question was a civil aircraft that travelled from South Carolina to Athens in Greece and landed in Shannon Airport on 12 October for a technical stopover.