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

-----current expenditure of €21 million and an additional €34 million in capital expenditure, compared to the original plan, to further progress the priority recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces and the independent review group, as well as funding the first year of the tribunal of inquiry. We will do all of this because increasing our Permanent Defence Force numbers is key to building capacity and further progressing the reform programme which is under way. This allocation will provide for the recruitment, training and support of a net additional 400 military personnel next year, as well as posts across the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces, to implement reform and in important roles such as cyber-responders, data analysts and cyberanalysts. This recognises vital work of our Defence Forces here at home and abroad.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

This is also because we play such a proud role in world affairs. We are known for our contribution to global peace. In 2023, Ireland provided the highest ever level of official development assistance, in cash terms and as a percentage of our gross national income. I am proud that we have met the twin challenges of providing for war refugees without losing sight of other crises, including the drought in the Horn of Africa and the awful floods in Pakistan. In 2024, I am providing €776.5 million in funding to Irish Aid in the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is an 8.4% increase on the level of funding last year, allowing this to reach a record level. We will also provide at least half of the additional funding necessary to achieve the Government’s 2025 climate finance pledge.

OUR SHARED ISLAND

Supported by European Union funding, the Global Ireland strategy supports the development of our country at home as well as our values elsewhere. Last month, I attended the launch of a new round of PEACEPLUS funding, supported by the European Union and agreed with the United Kingdom. To support this work, €1.1 billion in funding will be invested in projects that support shared peace and prosperity across Northern Ireland and the Border counties. The Government has to date allocated €247 million as part of our own shared island initiative.

EU FUNDING

We recognise that half a century as a proud member of the European Union has been transformative for Ireland and its people. Our interests are best served by active, engaged membership. Recent years have highlighted the importance of solidarity with our European family. The €1 billion of funding reserved for Ireland from the Brexit adjustment reserve is the largest single allocation for any member state. It continues to help with the consequences of Brexit. The recovery and resilience facility, under which Ireland is set to receive almost €1 billion in EU funding up to 2026, supports us in mitigating the effects of Covid, as well as allowing us to continue on a path of a greener and more digital recovery. REPowerEU funding will also help to accelerate our green transition, and cohesion funding continues to play a vital role in our efforts.

SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC SPENDING

A Cheann Comhairle, budget reform remains central to public expenditure management and is a key part of the work of my Department. Performance, equality, green and well-being budgeting, along with the spending review, are examples of how this work will be done. The paper on the well-being impacts of this budget will follow shortly. Our public servants are key to this work, in meeting the needs of our growing and changing population and enabling this reform. The current public service agreement, Building Momentum, expires at the end of this year. Later this year, my Department will enter talks and endeavour to reach an agreement that is fair for public servants and affordable for taxpayers. Of course, I expect that the significant package of cost-of-living and taxation measures provided for in this budget, which will benefit public servants, will also be factored into those discussions.

CONCLUSION

We will enter these discussions in a world that continues to change, and change quickly. We know of the opportunities that this change brings, particularly for an economy that is so skilled and so entrepreneurial, in a country that is open and committed to our role in the European Union and in the international community. We also know of the challenges, and of the risks too, including the existential risk of climate change and the threat of violence and to the rule of law around the world. In my introduction today, I acknowledged how all recent budgets have been defined by these challenges. Any one of those challenges, at other points in our history, could have caused long lasting-harm to our economy, but this has not happened because our public finances were gradually, step by difficult step, returned to health, from deficit to balance to surplus. This budget, presented by the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and me today, continues that approach. We are not spending every cent today; we are leaving some aside for tomorrow. We are helping with the cost of living, but changing that help as inflation slows. We are spending more on public services and building more homes, more schools and better public transport, but we are not basing that spending on money we may not always have. That is why this budget will help with the cost of living and with better public services, and will give more children a better start in life. That is why I commend budget 2024 to the House.

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