Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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109.To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the recruitment budget allocated to the Defence Forces in the years of 2022, 2023 and 2024; the percentage of that budget that was actually spent in 2022 and 2023 in tabular form. [25574/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The overall budget for Vote 36 – Defence is delivered under a single programme entitled ‘Defence Policy and Support, Military Capabilities and Operational Outputs’. Dedicated recruitment funding is not identified separately in the Defence Vote, other than a specific budgetary allocation within Subhead A.22.2 (Miscellaneous: Advertising), which provides for advertising costs supporting various Defence Forces recruitment initiatives.

The table below outlines the Subhead A.22.2 allocation, expenditure and % of allocation spent on Defence Forces advertising over the period specified.

The increased funding provided for advertising in 2024 will significantly enhance this year’s Defence Forces recruitment efforts. It will enable progress on a wide number of ongoing recruitment initiatives, including general service recruitment, direct entry recruitment and re-entry recruitment schemes, while also facilitating engagement with a marketing and media partner to assist with the overarching Defence Forces 'Be More' recruitment campaign.