Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 July 2020
148. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Defence if his Department retains records and statistics on the portions of Irish airspace reserved for military use each year, in particular, the location of the section of airspace reserved, the dates and times on which they are reserved and the duration of the reservation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17601/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraInformation about the airspace used by the Defence Forces is published in the Irish Aviation Authority's Aeronautical Information Publication. In addition, ad hoc airspace structures (temporary restricted areas) may be filed with the Irish Aviation Authority for specific operations and/or training events and are known as NOTAM (Notices to Airmen).
Each activation, deactivation and change to the maximum active levels of the airspace concerned is manually entered into the relevant Air Traffic Control logbooks. Logbooks are retained for a year before being destroyed.
I wish to assure you that effective civil military coordination procedures are in place so as to reduce the impact of military activity on civil operations.
