The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, has informed the Chair he wishes to make a personal explanation, and the Chair agrees.
Personal Explanation by Minister
Arising from new information which has been brought to my attention, I would like to correct the record of the House in respect of an error in responses to four parliamentary questions from Deputy Clare Daly starting on 7 October 2014 and finishing with Question No. 110 on 20 November 2014.
I replied to the questions on the basis of the information provided by Shannon Airport Authority. Shannon Airport Authority has now informed my Department that it has identified an error in its recording of the registration of this aircraft and has provided confirmation of the details of the aircraft in question.
I can confirm to the House that the aircraft identified by Deputy Clare Daly in the four parliamentary questions was in fact granted permission to land at Shannon Airport on 30 September this year. The permission to land was granted subject to the strict conditions which apply to foreign military aircraft, including stipulations that the aircraft must be unarmed, carry no arms, ammunition or explosives and must not engage in intelligence gathering and that the flights in question must not form part of military exercises or operations.
I apologise to the House for this error. The Shannon Airport Authority has apologised to me for this administrative error and has assured me that additional control measures have been put in place to avoid any recurrence.
Did they have guns?