Vol. 559 No. 1
369 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Transport the amount which has been paid by his Department to the Irish Aviation Authority in reimbursement for the exemption of foreign military aircraft from overflight charges under the Eurocontrol (European Organisation for the safety of Air Navigation) Multilateral agreement. [25841/02]
Under a Eurocontrol (European Organisation for the safety of Air Navigation) Multilateral agreement to which Ireland is a party, various categories of flights, flights under visual flight rules, flights performed by small aircraft, flights performed for the transport of Heads of State and search and rescue flights are exempt from paying en-route charges.
In the case of other categories, military flights, training flights, flights performed to test air navigation equipment and circular flights, states have the option to exempt such flights from payment of the en-route charge. In common with most Eurocontrol member states, Ireland exempts all such flights, including military, from payment of the en-route charge. Because of this arrangement the IAA costs in relation to military flights are met from my Department's Vote.
A total of €7.025 million, not including VAT has been paid to the IAA since its establishment in 1994 to 2001 in the years 1994 to 2001, inclusive, in relation to all exempted flights other than flights under visual flight rules. While it is not possible to provide an exact breakdown of the remaining total between military and other exempt flights, it is estimated that the latter comprises a very small proportion of the total payment of €7.025 million. In relation to 2002, the equivalent amount invoiced to end September by the IAA is €925,000.
