2026-06-24

This is not the first time I have raised the issue of commercial drone fast-food deliveries in residential areas. Last week, we had the announcement from Manna Air Delivery, which was the company operating in Dublin 15 and Cork, that it is suspending and pulling out of Ireland. Residents who were suffering as a result of the noise and lack of privacy, and who had wildlife concerns, etc., but who particularly suffered as a result of the noise, peace and quiet in their back gardens and neighbours having been lost, are celebrating. This technology was very invasive. It was brought in without any proper consultation. The company seemed to operate without having to go for planning permission. When it was forced to do so by community action and by communities getting organised and challenging the way the company was operating, the council started to take notice. The local authority started to act. I have a list of issues that residents have raised with me and I am directly using the words they have sent me. How is it that commercial drone delivery operations were permitted by this Government to roll out without prior public consultation and without environmental or health impact assessments being done? For two years, Manna Air Delivery was granted a licence by the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, and was able to bypass public consultation. It provided its own statements without any objective evidence concerning noise and environmental impact. It took a year-long effort by communities, certainly in Dublin 15, including the residents' group Drone Action D15. Public meetings in Dundrum were well attended. It makes no sense. Every piece of technology that comes along does not have to be embraced. It should depend on its social usefulness. One hundred people suffer unbearable propeller noise for one person to get a cup of coffee flown over to them. Who said we needed that? As a journalist said, this was answering a question that was never asked. We now need to look at the fact that the noise of drones in residential areas make them an unacceptable technology. There are loads of good uses for drones, and I am all for their use in topography, photography, emergency medicine and many other areas. Flying burgers, takeaways and coffees in residential areas is not a good use. We need to ensure that commercial drone deliveries are not allowed again in residential areas. The national drone policy that will be drawn up must reflect that. Commercial drone companies must be required, like everybody else, to apply for planning permission for bases they are setting up and for the impact they have. Manna Air Delivery was operating in a regulatory vacuum. There is now a framework whereby the public are considered stakeholders and must be consulted. It seems that was something this particular company did not like. It did not like the fact that the public had to be consulted. It had strong opposition in Cork and Dublin 15. That it was mooted to go into Dundrum and Dublin city brought a huge reaction from residents. We now have a framework and we must ensure that the IAA is not lagging behind and enforces it, not just on behalf of the people it regulates, such as the drone operators, but also on behalf of the general public.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. I note Manna Air Delivery's recent statement that it will for now cease deliveries by drone in Ireland. The Minister recently met with representatives of Manna Air Delivery and we welcome the company's continued commitment to operating significant research and development and manufacturing bases in Ireland, where it will test, design and build drones. The company will continue to pursue international opportunities with the Irish bases central to that strategy. From an aviation safety perspective, the regulation of both the recreational and commercial use of drones, or "unmanned aircraft systems", UAS, as they are technically called, is provided for under European Union regulations that are directly applicable to Ireland. Two drone-specific EU regulations ensure drone operations across Europe are safe and secure. Regulation 2019/947 sets operational rules that apply to both professional drone operators and those flying drones for leisure. Another regulation sets the common EU-wide technical requirements for drones and the features and capabilities that drones must have in order to be flown safely. This regulation also seeks to foster investment in the industry. The Irish Aviation Authority, the civil aviation regulator, oversees the implementation of the EU regulations and standards. The drone regulations are operation-centric and focus on the risk of drone operations so regulation is lighter on low-risk operations and more demanding on high-risk operations. Under the EU regulatory regime, drone operations are classified into three broad categories, open, specific and certified, with different regulatory considerations applying to each category. Commercial drone operations may fall into any one of the categories depending on the risk associated. Low-risk commercial drone operations, such as aerial photography, which the Deputy mentioned, may fall into the open category where regulation and oversight of operations are lighter. Other commercial drone operations, such as drone delivery operations, are more closely regulated. These types of commercial drone operations may fall into the medium-risk specific category, which may require specific authorisation by the IAA. This type of operation is recognised EU member states. To obtain an operational authorisation, an operator must provide a comprehensive safety portfolio, which includes assessing and addressing both ground and air risks with appropriate mitigations. Manna Air Delivery holds such an authorisation from the IAA. In addition to complying with the drone regulation, drone operators are also subject to national laws, including environmental, planning and data protection laws. While there is a comprehensive regulatory framework in place from an aviation perspective, there are areas where the rapid pace of expansion of UAS operations has resulted in gaps and uncertainties. The Government, aware that the impact of the growing UAS sector needed further consideration, included in the programme for Government a commitment to guide high-level strategic planning and the development of the sector in Ireland. The national policy framework for UAS, agreed by the Government, was published by the Minister in August last year. The policy framework aims to guide high-level strategic planning and development in the drone sector in Ireland through support, growth and innovation, while ensuring safe and secure operations. It seeks to identify and address any policy, regulatory or legislative gaps that may have arisen due to the pace of the expansion of the drone operations. These include areas such as planning and noise regulation where the rapid pace of expansion of drone operations have resulted in gaps and uncertainty. The policy framework proposed a number of structures and actions that aim to address concerns in relation to UAS usage and operations in balance with the realisation of the economic and societal benefits from the emerging sector. There is also a need for clarity on areas outside aviation safety and in respect of the roles and responsibility of bodies. Since the launch of the policy, the Department of Transport has also established the national policy monitoring group and this group will support and monitor progress on the implementation of the framework. I will continue with the rest of my response later.

I urge that the framework specifically rules out these drones operating in residential areas. They cause considerable physical and mental health damage to residents who are suffering under them. The Minister of State said in his reply that the drone companies must comply. They are "subject to national laws, including environmental, planning and data protection laws". How come Manna Air Delivery was not so subject for two years? How come it was operating in bases that had no planning permission? Its representatives came in front an Oireachtas committee and told the residents that they could have a no-fly zone over their homes. When residents wrote to the company asking for that, it was never implemented. The company has been operating with impunity. It was funded, by the way, by Enterprise Ireland. I want to comment about jobs. Nobody wants to see any jobs lost as the result of a business closing. Manna Air Delivery has stated that 10% of its 200 employees will be affected, so 20 jobs are potentially at risk. That is the fault of an employer for establishing a company without proper planning. It is extremely antisocial. It had no consultation. There was no assent or buy-in from the community. It is estimated that the company had approximately 1,000 customers. The population of Blanchardstown is 150,000. There was not huge enthusiasm for this technology. It replaced delivery riders on e-bikes. It replaced delivery drivers, too. I would imagine that the balance in jobs will even out. There were also environmental claims. The delivery had to be driven to the drone base from the takeaway. Huge claims were made about the benefits of this technology to society. The game is up now because residents got organised in various communities. I see this as a victory for communities over big tech. Tech is not inevitable and we do not have to accept every single thing that is foisted on us.

Implementation of the policy framework is tracked and reported on through a series of annual action plans and progress reports. An implementation action plan for 2026, which sets out actions and corresponding timelines, is available on the Government's website. It is important for the public to know that. I am aware that the rapid pace of expansion of UAS operations has resulted in challenges and generated real concerns and uncertainty among communities, as the Deputy explained, particularly around the issues of noise, intrusion and privacy. The policy framework seeks to identify and address any policy regulatory or legislative gaps. The framework proposes a number of structures and actions to address concerns in relation to UAS usage and operations. It proposes 16 actions under three main areas: the use of airspace and planning; compliance and enforcement; and enterprise and innovation. Actions in the policy framework include the establishment of a national working group on UAS geographical zones to develop transparent processes and procedures for the designation of these zones; the safe management of the integration of UAS into our airspace; the impact on society and the environment; the establishment of a national u-space steering group to develop a national plan for the implementation of the u-space; a set of specific procedures designed to ensure safe and efficient access to and coexistence in airspace for the high volume of UAS; and the establishment of a UAS enterprise and innovation leadership group to foster the development of a robust ongoing policy on innovation. Implementation of the policy framework relies on cross-governmental structures, and the continuation of engagement and support from various Departments, agencies, the UAS sector and most importantly the public. I encourage the public to keep engaging on this particular matter. I again thank the Deputy for raising such an important matter.