577. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Transport the number of times the national U-space steering group has met to date. [58421/26]

579. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Transport if his Department has considered establishing a U-space service provider, an entity that would manage drone traffic. [58423/26]

580. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Transport if he will consider creating or appointing a common information service provider, CISP, that enables the provision of U-space services for the management of unmanned aircraft traffic. [58424/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 577, 579 and 580 together.

The National Policy Framework for Unmanned Aircraft Systems was approved by Government and published in August 2025. The Policy Framework aims to guide high-level strategic planning and development of the UAS sector in Ireland, through supporting growth and innovation, while ensuring safe and secure operations and managing environmental and other concerns. The Policy Framework seeks to identify and address any policy, regulatory or legislative gaps that may have arisen due to increased expansion of drone operations.

The establishment of a National U-space Steering Group is one of the actions set out in the Policy Framework. The Steering Group will be tasked with developing and effectively implementing U-space capabilities and technologies within the State.

The implementation of the Policy Framework is underway. Implementation will be tracked and reported on through a series of annual action plans and progress reports. The National UAS Policy Framework Monitoring Group was established earlier this year to support and monitor the overall progress of the implementation of the Policy Framework. The Monitoring Group agreed the Implementation Action Plan for 2026 which sets out tasks and timelines for 2026 associated with the implementation of actions set out in the Policy Framework, including the establishment of working groups. The Implementation Plan is available on the Government's website.

The National U-space Steering Group is due to be established in Q4 of 2026 and work is underway to identify the requirements and costs of a U-space delivery programme ahead of the establishment of the Steering Group.