Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 December 2005
183 Ms C. Murphy asked the Minister for Finance the customs arrangements which are in place at Weston Aerodrome; if, in the event of a change in licensing at the aerodrome, his Department will review the existing customs arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39954/05]
View answerI am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that Weston Aerodrome is approved by them in respect of flights to or from other member states of the European Union. Flights to and from EU destinations are permitted provided no third country non-EU goods are carried on board; no stores are carried on board; no passengers who have originated in a non-EU country and who have not been cleared at another EU airport are on board; no goods carried on board are being exported to a non-EU country; and customs intervention is not necessary for the purposes of enforcing a prohibition or restriction on importation or exportation.
Save as permitted by the commissioners, flights to Weston Aerodrome from outside the EU must first clear customs at an international community airport; and flights from Weston to destinations outside the EU must depart via an international community airport. There are three international community airports in Ireland, Dublin, Shannon and Cork. Flights into Weston from outside the European Union are infrequent and prior permission must be obtained from the commissioners in respect of these.
The volume and type of business conducted at Weston, primarily national and EU flights, does not justify the deployment of a permanent customs presence there. However, customs officers visit the aerodrome regularly as a check against the landing or exportation of prohibited goods, in particular, controlled drugs. In the event that a change in the aerodrome licensing regime results in a change to the perceived risk, the level of control by attendance of customs officers will be reviewed accordingly. However, the licensing of an aerodrome normally does not impact on the terms of approval or level of controls performed by customs.
