Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Obviously everyone in this House wants to see defence spending increase. There is a recognition that we need to spend much more money on our defence capacity, but the concern is that the money received is not all being spent. I listened carefully to the Minister's answer and I note what he says about the €836 million. It appears that part of the problem is that although we have a minimum requirement of 9,500 members of the Defence Forces, we are not getting up to those numbers. We are significantly below that figure, which is a contributing factor to this under-profile spend.

What can the Minister do to ensure he is not in a position whereby money being allocated to the Department is not being spent and must be sent back? Given that we all recognise that defence spending must be increased, it is disappointing that some of the funding has to go back because it is not being spent.

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