Capital spending on military projects will increase by 22 per cent next year, with much of this going on the development of a military radar capable of detecting airborne threats.
Additional funds will also be allocated to recruit more permanent staff and to hire civilian specialists to fill vacant technical roles, particularly in the Naval Service, which has been hardest by the recruitment and retention crisis affecting the Defence Forces.
The overall defence budget will be a record €1.3 billion, part of the Government’s commitment to increase defence spending by 50 per cent by 2028 in response to growing international threats.
The allocation for 2025 is a €7 million more than the last budget. But it still leaves Ireland at the bottom of the table for defence spending in the EU as a proportion of GDP.
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The majority of funds will go towards day-to-day spending, including wages and pensions. About €215 million will go towards capital spending.
The acquisition of a primary military radar, capable of detecting potentially hostile aircraft flying in Irish airspace, was one of the main recommendations from the Commission on the Defence Forces.
It will be a complex multiyear project involving at least three sites around the country. Some estimates put its total cost at well above €250 million.
The budget allocation for 2025 will be used to continue research and development on the project in advance of construction in the coming years. Ireland is one of the only EU countries not to have its own primary radar.
Once it is complete, the Defence Forces will have the ability to detect unauthorised aircraft in Irish airspace, including small private aircraft used by criminal gangs to smuggle drugs.
However, for the foreseeable future, it will have no ability to intercept such aircraft. The Government has yet to commit to another recommendation from the Commission on the Defence Forces: the acquisition of combat jet aircraft.
Some of the capital spending will also go towards the development of subsea monitoring systems, another area where the Defence Forces currently has no capability.
Ireland and other EU countries are increasingly concerned about the threat to subsea infrastructure such as data cables and energy interconnectors from hostile actors.
These threats were brought into focus in 2022 when Russian warships planned to hold military exercises in the vicinity of vital subsea cables off the west coast.
The Government did not specify what subsea monitoring systems it is procuring but it is likely to include remote monitoring systems and advanced sonar equipment for naval vessels.
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Much of the focus of the 2025 defence budget is on achieving the goal of increasing the size of the Permanent Defence Forces to 11,500 by 2028.
The possibility of achieving this goal appears remote, given Defence Forces numbers continue to fall. The current strength of the organisation is now under 7,500, well below its current establishment strength of 9,500.
This is despite various initiatives including an increase in allowances and the hiring of external recruitment companies. Next year funds will be available to increase the size of the organisation by 400 Defence Forces members.
About €3 million will be available for the purchase of new modern uniforms for the Defence Force. Capital funds will also be used to acquire a new Airbus C295W military transport, capable of evacuating Irish citizens from dangerous situations around the world.
“This level of investment is critical in the current geopolitical situation,” the Department of Defence said.
The Tribunal established this year to investigate sexual abuse and bullying in the military will receive €6.5 million from the defence budget in 2025 to fund its work.
The Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco) cautiously welcomed the defence budget increase as a “positive statement of intent by Government”.
However, the goal of increasing Defence Forces numbers will only be achieved by retaining current personnel through the urgent application of the working time directive to the Defence Forces and improvements in pension arrangements, Raco general secretary Lieut Col Conor King said.
Sinn Féin’s defence spokesman Matt Carthy said the allocation to hire 400 new personnel will be seen as a “farcical joke” by members.
“More people have left the Defence Forces than joined every year since this Government took office. That is set to continue,” he said.
