Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Tánaiste that I would not suggest to the Government to throw money anywhere because it is quite good at doing that of its own volition, but here is the crux. For the past number of years on budget day or in the budget documents released by the Department, the Tánaiste has said that the budget includes provision for the employment of 400 additional members of the Defence Forces when everybody in this House and anybody who has been watching the Defence Forces knows that will not happen. The most likely scenario is that there will be fewer members of the Defence Forces than there were the previous year. That is exactly what happened last year. Knowing that the Tánaiste had allocated money for more members and personnel than would be in place, surely it would be prudent to have a plan B to ensure that money was not thrown away and there was provision to ensure that money would be spent. This year, the Tánaiste again announced that he had made provision for an additional 400 members of the Defence Forces. Has he a contingency if that target is not met so that the funding that has been allocated to that need will not be lost to the Defence Forces and will be put to good use?

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