My Department is responsible for civil aviation; approvals for military aircraft are a matter for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Civil aircraft carrying military personnel, but not any munitions of war or weapons, do not require any approval or exemption from me in order to over-fly Ireland or to land at Irish airports.
Any civil aircraft carrying military personnel and their personal weapons require an exemption from me from the prohibition on the carrying of munitions of war or weapons. The number of such exemptions for civil aircraft carrying military personnel and munitions of war or weapons granted by me for flights taking place in each of the past six months are as follows: September to December 2002: none; January 2003: 35 landings, no over-flights; and February 2003: 52 landings and 18 over-flights.