Over 4 million euro has been spent by the Defence Forces in providing security at Shannon Airport in the last ten years.
The Armyhas maintained a regular presence at Clare’s International Airport since a US military aircraft was damaged by anti-war protesters in 2003.
Minister Alan Shatter says the Defence Forces’ role at Shannon is to assist, when requested, the Gardaí
Their work there began on February 5th, 2003, two days after substantial damage was caused to a US Naval Plane and glass doors at Shannon Airport.
Five anti-war protesters were subsequently found not guilty of criminal damage.
Nearly half of four million euro total was spent in the first two years after Defence Forces were deployed at Shannon, with the annual costs falling to between two- and three-hundred thousand euro each year since 2007.
This has risen for each of the last two years, and reached 275 thousand euro last year.
Minister Shatter says this includes wages, rations and fuel costs and that the bill is met from within the Defence force’s budget.
