Clare Daly
Question:1084. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to Parliamentary Question No. 61 of 21 June 2018, if the aircraft was or was not in Irish controlled airspace. [35658/18]
View answerFriday, 7 September 2018
Questions (1084)
Written answers
As previously indicated in my reply to Dail Question No. 200 dated 14 June 2018, the aircraft in question, while over international waters, was diverted to Shannon Airport due to technical issues.
I understand that the event was reported as occurring at the boundary of the Shannon and Shanwick Upper Flight Information Regions (UIR). The location is within Irish controlled airspace but over international waters and, as such, the matter would not be the subject of an investigation by the relevant Irish authorities.
In this context, it is important to make a distinction between Irish "sovereign" airspace and Irish “controlled” airspace.
Irish sovereign airspace, by definition and international agreement, is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by Ireland above its territory, including its territorial waters (i.e. 12 nautical miles out from the coastline). Airspace beyond a country’s territorial limit is termed “international”.
Ireland, as a party to international agreements, provides certain air traffic management services in some parts of international airspace, including the Shannon UIR. However, the relevant international treaty sets out that when the location of an incident cannot be established as being within or over the territory of another State, the State of Operator, after consultation with the State of Registry, should accept full or partial responsibility for the conduct of the investigation.
In this instance, it was established that the event did not occur in the territory of the State, as it was beyond the 12 mile territorial limit.