Transport Minister Eamon Ryan said the government is looking at ways to police and shoot down drones causing disruption at Dublin Airport.
Flights at the airport were temporarily suspended last night due to drone activity in the area.
They were suspended at 8.22 pm, but the green signal was given before 9.00 pm and flights resumed. There was no flight diversion.
Airport operator Da said an Garda Síochána was immediately informed.
This was the latest in a series of disruptions at the airport due to drone activity.
Mr Ryan said he met with the DAA and other regulators today and pledged to do everything possible to stop what he describes as a real risk.
“This is a real danger, this is a real crime. The justice system will be carrying out further investigations and we are working with justice [department] looking at other mechanisms where we can police and take down drones, but it’s not an easy issue to address,” Mr Ryan said, reports RTE.
Mr Ryan said because of the security rules at airports you can’t screw things up.
“There are international systems which we are looking at to interfere with their own communication systems to bring them down but this is not an easy operation,” he said, reports RTE.
Captain Evan Cullen, President of the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, said the government was “”sat on their hands” and failing to enforce laws on the use of drones.
Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, Captain Cullen said the association had raised with various stakeholders in 2017 that “any regulations at that time were inadequate and that there was no enforcement”, reports RTE.
“A drone can take out a jet engine in a matter of seconds. It also can penetrate the windscreen of a cockpit and therefore kill the pilots while in flight. These are very, very serious threats to aircraft. They are not toys,” reports RTE.
Captain Cullen said that the rule banning the use of drones around the hospital helipad “was withdrawn lately and there is nothing in its place”, reports RTE.
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