THE Republic's expenditure on defence as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is now the lowest in Europe, even lower than Luxembourg's, it has been claimed.
The figures emerged at the weekend conference held by the Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA), the staff association for noncommissioned military personnel.
PDFORRA announced it was seeking a 12.5 per cent pay increase in addition to the basic national pay increase under Partnership 2000.
Figures produced to delegates showed that the Republic's defence spending has fallen from 2 per cent of GDP in 1980 to 1.01 per cent in 1997.
The next lowest level of expenditure in Europe was in Luxembourg which does not have an army but a national guard, most of whose members were part time. Luxembourg spends 1.1 per cent of its GDP on defence.
The PDFORRA general secretary, Mr John Lucey, described the drop in spending as "disgraceful" given that the Republic was the only European country "with an ongoing security problem both internally and on our immediate border".
He said it had come as a surprise even to military personnel in the State that the Republic was attempting to maintain a conventional army on budget levels even lower than countries which only maintained part time national guards.
Mr Lucey called for an additional £25 million in the military budget for the next eight years to enable the Defence Forces to properly equip and pay its personnel.
Commenting on pay negotiations, Mr Lucey said: "It is just not possible to conduct meaningful negotiations in the present atmosphere of acceptance of serious underfunding. Military chiefs and Department of Defence officials seem to be locked into a culture of accepting the ongoing minimalist approach."