Councillors express concern about lack of regulations around drone delivery in Dublin
Seán McCárthaigh
of Dublin City Council have expressed concern that no regulations are in place to deal with the expected expansion of commercial delivery services using drones in the capital over the coming months.
Several councillors claim there is a need for the local authority to take some measures to address the issue while legislation at a national level to govern the use of commercial drone flights is under consideration.
The issue has intensified following last week’s announcement that food delivery company, Deliveroo, has partnered with Irish drone operator, Manna, to provide a pilot delivery service in the Blanchardstown area.
Dublin City Council confirmed that it has not received any planning application relating to a drone delivery service in its istrative area to date.
However, Manna has also signalled that it intends to expand its operations to 10 hubs in Ireland before the end of the year as part of contracts to provide one million delivery flights for food delivery firms.
One of the future locations is planned to be Glasnevin, where the company currently employs 120 staff at its headquarters, although it is unclear if Manna is required to apply for planning permission to operate drones from its site.
Dublin City Council’s mobility and public realm committee discussed a motion at a recent meeting from Fine Gael councillor, Gayle Ralph, who called on the council to adopt a proactive approach for approving commercial drone operations.
Cllr Ralph also recommended that all planning applications for drone delivery services should be refused until a working group established by the council had published a report on the issue and a public consultation had been conducted on the council’s Drone and Urban Air Mobility Strategy 2024-2029 which was published last year.
The document acknowledges that the timeframe for local authorities to extend their competencies for dealing with an expansion of drone delivery service is “relatively short".
“There needs to be widespread engagement to define the rules for flying and how areas of concerns in relation to safety, security, environmental impacts and privacy can be addressed,” it noted.
Cllr Ralph has also urged Dublin City Council to require any commercial operator seeking to establish a drone delivery service around the city to submit a comprehensive noise impact assessment “to ensure a thorough evaluation of potential noise impacts during both day and night".
Council officials said the working group was examining various issues regarding the use of drones which was not limited to commercial delivery operations.
A council executive manager, Dermot Collins, accepted that the local authority is facing challenges from “the proliferation of drones” around the city as commercial operators expand their services.
“There is no huge clear guidance in of planning around that,” said Mr Collins.
Mr Collins said he believed the noise created by drones would be a key issue.
Green Party councillor, Feljin Jose, expressed concern that it appeared that a commercial premises with a car park can be used as a drone base as it does not represent a material change of use in of planning.
“For me that’s incredibly worrying, like there’s no limitations on when it can be used,” said Mr Jose.
He said the situation might require legislation to be developed by either the Department of Housing or the Department of Transport.
While there was an urgency for primary legislation which can take time to implement , Mr Jose said he believed the council should consider other measures itself in the interim.
Social Democrats councillor, Paddy Monahan, said there was also concern about the privacy aspects of the use of drones.
The chair of the committee, Janet Horner said the regulation of commercial drone operations was a “grey area” in of planning.
The Green Party councillor, who represents the north inner city area, said the number of people affected within the area covered by Dublin City Council would be much greater than the suburban areas where drones already operate.
Ms Horner said the significantly increased density of housing in inner city areas meant there would be a tenfold increase at least in the number of people affected by a drone ing overhead every half-hour than in the suburban areas where they already operate.
“I think it is unrealistic and unfair to expect people to put up with that within their homes,” she added.
Ms Horner acknowledged that people living in Glasnevin are anxious about “what is coming their way in of the intensity and density of drone flights.”
The committee agreed to seek a meeting with the Irish Aviation Authority to discuss the matter further.
Manna said it operates under full regulatory oversight from both the Irish Aviation Authority and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
The company's founder, Bobby Healy, said it has a SAIL 3 licence for EU-wide operations which “reflected its years of safe flight experience and rigorous compliance standards”.
He added: “Regulation is not a barrier – it’s a foundation. We welcome it and engage with it.”
