Defence budget promises extra €55m but leaves military representatives unimpressed

An additional €55 million has been provided to the Defence Forces in Budget 2024 which will be used to hire 400 additional personnel and help develop a primary radar system.

The Department of Defence will also receive €1 million to continue to provide non-lethal military aid to Ukraine under the measures announced on Tuesday.

The total defence budget will be €1.23 billion, of which €176 million will go towards capital investment.

The budget for Irish Aid is to rise by 8.4 per cent to €775 million. This will be used to increase humanitarian assistance to regions impacted by war in Africa and elsewhere. The amount earmarked for Ukraine is €95 million.

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The increase will also be used to fund at least half of the Government’s 2025 climate finance pledge. This will “protect people in some of the most vulnerable nations on Earth from the growing consequences of a warming world”, the Government said.

The increased defence budget allocation brings the Coalition a step closer to meeting a commitment to increase spending in the area by 50 per cent by 2028, one of the recommendations made by the Commission on the Defence Forces last year.

An additional €34 million in capital expenditure will be used to “further progress defensive equipment programmes” including the development of a radar system capable of detecting airborne threats across the country. Ireland is one of few EU countries without such a system.

It will also be used to develop “force protection needs” such as armoured vehicles, communications systems and body armour.

The capital budget will be invested in replacement and renewal programmes for Naval ships and Air Corps aircraft. These include the procurement of a large multi-role vessel and a military transport aircraft. It will also fund a programme to modernise barracks and other military facilities around the country.

The Department of Defence will also receive an extra €21 million for current expenditure, most of which will go towards rising pension costs. About €6 million of this will be used to fund the recruitment of 400 new personnel, as well as recruitment campaigns and training and education initiatives.

The Government hopes this will stem an exodus from the Defence Forces, which has left it about 2,000 members below the establishment strength of 9,500 and unable to complete core tasks. One of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces is to increase the maximum size of the military to 11,500.

There is no explicit commitment in the budget to increase allowances for military personnel, including patrol duty allowance for Naval Service members. Military representative organisations had strongly urged increases in allowances to improve retention.

“Promised Naval Service retention measures such as increased Patrol Duty Allowance to address the apparent collapse of our seagoing capability have not materialised and this is a major concern for our members,” said Lt Col Conor King, general secretary of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco).

He said the commitment to a net increase of 400 personnel actually means hiring an extra 1,000 people due to current shortages. This ignores the fact that the training capacity to induct these numbers “simply does not exist”, Lt Col King said.

While he welcomed the “small increase” in current and capital expenditure, he said that “without significant retention initiatives, worryingly absent from this budget, the Defence Forces cannot become an employer of choice and strive for the Level of Ambition urgently recommended by the Commission on the Defence Forces 20 months ago.”

Separately in the budget, the Department of Communications will receive an extra €10.7 million to fund the National Cyber Security Centre.

Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin said the increase in the defence budget “will allow progress in the transformation of the Defence Forces”.

Mr Martin, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs, said the increase in foreign aid “will allow Ireland to reach more people, particularly those impacted by climate change and humanitarian crisis”.