Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will be aware, the annual defence sector budget, comprising Vote 35, Army pensions, and Vote 36, defence, is determined within the overarching budgetary framework and approved by Dáil Eireann, having regard to the level of resources available and defence policy requirements, with multi-annual capital envelopes determined as part of the overarching national development plan, NDP. It should be noted that 2022 expenditure figures are not yet definitive. Provisional outturn figures for last year are due next month and the appropriation accounts are due for publication in September. My response to the Deputy's question is given with that caveat.

The expenditure returns for December indicate a total gross underspend of €1.58 million in 2022 on the Army pensions Vote. The expenditure returns for the defence Vote indicate a total gross underspend of €497,000 in 2022. The underspend is mainly attributable to pay savings which arose due to the actual strength numbers being significantly below the target establishment strength of 9,500 personnel.

In previous years, a long-standing arrangement existed by which pay funding was allocated for establishment Permanent Defence Force, PDF, numbers of 9,500. However, this funding model was changed for Estimates 2023 in the circumstances where actual numbers were considerably lower than the establishment number and stood at 8,049 at the end of November 2022.

Estimates 2023 allocated an additional €93 million towards the defence Vote group. Pay is now allocated for actual numbers and expected recruitment intake in 2023. For 2023, a net additional 400 recruits is projected for the Defence Forces. Pay savings of approximately €26 million arose in 2022 in respect of the PDF. With appropriate consents, the majority of these pay savings were reallocated to address spending pressures elsewhere, including Defence Forces capability development for the purchase of defensive equipment, aircraft, naval vessels and consumables.

The Department of Defence has advised that there were over 7,000 applications to join the Defence Forces in 2022. The Commission on the Defence Forces published its report in February 2022. The Government published its response and associated high-level action plan in July last year. My Department has now sanctioned all three early action pay measures, with some further actions under analysis. I am committed to supporting a modern and effective Defence Force. My Department is represented on a high-level steering board and implementation oversight group which will provide additional support for the implementation of the action plan.

See this speech in context