The taxpayer is footing the bill for foreign military aircraft using Irish airspace, it emerged today.
The revelation came in a written reply to a Dáil question tabled by Labour transport spokesperson, Ms Roisín Shortall, who estimated the cost to the taxpayer at well over €1 million per year.
Every flight that passes through Irish-controlled airspace is subject to a charge but under the terms of an international agreement, to which Ireland is a signatory, military aircraft are exempt.
However, the Irish Aviation Authority still gets paid - by the Department of Transport.
"I believe that the public will be shocked and surprised to find that our own Department of Transport actually reimburses the Irish Aviation Authority for the charges that are lost as a result of the exemption of military aircraft from the normal charges that are paid by civil aircraft," Ms Shortall said.
Ms Shortall was also given figures showing an increase of military flights over Irish airspace. Only four fewer flights have been recorded for the first nine months of the year compared to 6,895 for all of 2001.
She said Ireland is a "loser" under the Eurocontrol (European Organisation for the safety of Air Navigation) Multilateral Agreement. "Very few Irish military flights overfly other countries, but our position on the edge of Europe means that many foreign military flights go through Irish-controlled airspace."
The Governmment have the right to charge for military aircraft but the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen,said in his reply to Ms Shortall's question that Ireland, "in common with most Eurocontrol member states" does not excercie its option.
Green Party coucillor and member of the Irish Anti-War Movement, Ms Deirdre de Burca described the news as "horrifying".
She said her party had been told recently by the Minister for Foreign Affairs that there was no monitoring of US military aircraft using Irish airspace or landing in Shannon to ensure they met with conditions laid down by the Government.
"This means not alone are we not monitoring to ensure compliance but we're also funding and subsidising the US war effort," Ms de Burca said.
She said despite the Irish people's "deep commitment" the Government were "cynically dismantling our neutrality".
The Irish Anti-War Movement have organised a march to the US emabassy this Saturday assembling at the Central Bank at 2.00 p.m.