§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of Defence what has been the annual cost over the last five years for which figures are available of providing Royal Air Force search and rescue helicopters and Nimrod tracking aircraft for searches in or over Republic of Ireland territorial waters or involving Republic of Ireland ships or aircraft.
§ Mr. StanleyI regret that this information could not be provided except at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions in the last five years the Republic of Ireland has allowed Royal Air Force or Royal Navy vessels or aircraft into its territorial waters or airspace, or to use port or airfield facilities; and if he will list the dates and circumstances of such occasions.
§ Mr. StanleyNot all the information requested is available. Since 1982 diplomatic clearance has been sought and granted for 23 landings by RAF aircraft at airfields in the Republic of Ireland. This figure does not include requests made at short notice, for example, for emergency flights or search and rescue missions. Since 1982, clearance has been sought and granted on one occasion for a Royal Navy vessel to visit a port in the Republic of Ireland, when HMS Challenger landed wreckage recovered from the Air India Boeing 747 crash, at Cork in June 1985.
RAF aircraft make frequent flights through the airspace of the Republic of Ireland. In the 12 months to 31 January 1986, clearance was sought and granted for 446 overflights. This figure also does not include requests made at short notice.