Air Navigation Orders

Tuesday, 28 April 2026

Questions (232)

Donna McGettigan

Question:

232. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade further to Parliamentary Question No. 156 of 16 April 2026, to provide details of subsequent or previous inspections conducted of planes, post-clearance, to ensure that national legislation and international legal obligations are being complied with; if evidence has been found of failures to comply with such obligations; if so, the details of same; if such inspections have not taken place, the basis for failing to do so; the basis on which the Government can assert that laws have not been broken in the absence of inspections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29783/26]

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Written answers

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Under the terms of the relevant national legislation in this area, 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 Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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.

Foreign military aircraft which are given permission to land in Ireland are not subject to inspection. Sovereign immunity, a long-standing principle of customary international law, means that a state may not exercise its jurisdiction in respect to another state or its property, including state and military aircraft. This principle applies automatically to foreign state or military aircraft in the same way that it applies to Irish state or military aircraft abroad.

Question No. 233 answered with Question No. 226.