Drone Noise

Drone Noise 

Fingal County Council’s powers to deal with noise nuisance come from Section 108 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992. This power specifically excludes noise from aircraft. Drones are classified as aircraft.  

Operators who fly drones with cameras, regardless of weight class, and operators who fly drones (without cameras) weighing 250 grams or more are required to register with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA). As the IAA are the regulatory body for this activity, please contact them with the details of your complaint. They can be contacted at:  [email protected] . Further information is available at: https://www.iaa.ie/general-aviation/drones.    

 The Government published a National Policy Framework for Unmanned Aircraft Systems on August 20th 2025. The policy framework does not appear to provide for a change in the law to permit local authorities to regulate drones with regard to noise.  The policy does include an action:  

‘Relevant State agencies, government departments and local government will determine and request UAS Geographical Zones through the Irish Aviation Authority in line with the processes and procedures developed through the National Working Group on UAS Geographical Zones.’ 

There are no details of how this policy will be implemented yet and we await the outcome of the National Working Group on UAS geographical zones.