Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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30. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will report on the Defence budget allocation for 2025. [42022/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Defence Vote Group, comprising of Vote 35 (Army Pensions) and Vote 36 (Defence), has been provided with a funding allocation of €1,350 million in Budget 2025 - €1,021 million for the Defence Vote and €329 million for the Army Pensions Vote. This represents a €100 million (8%) increase on the corresponding 2024 allocation.

On the Defence Vote, the overall gross allocation is €1.02 billion. This represents an €88 million (9.4%) increase on the corresponding 2024 allocation and sees the Defence Vote exceed the €1 billion mark for the first time.

For 2025, the key priority remains to progress the transformation of the Defence Forces as outlined in the Strategic Framework, supported by the Detailed Implementation Plan. In that context, this significant level of funding now provided will facilitate further progress and support the implementation of a range of recommendations and priorities identified in the Commission on the Defence Forces (CODF), the Independent Review Group (IRG) on Dignity & Equality Issues in the Defence Forces and the recently published Defence Policy Review.

The 2025 Vote 36 (Defence) allocation includes an overall pay allocation of €568 million, of which €469 million provides for the pay of an expected year-end PDF strength of 7,600 and the induction of a net additional 400 recruits in 2025.

The non-pay current expenditure allocation on the Defence Vote will increase by over €30 million, with virtually all non-pay subheads set to benefit from an increased allocation in 2025. As well as providing for ongoing operational and standing costs, this allocation will also provide targeted funding to facilitate, inter alia, an increase to the advertising budget to €3.2 million to support an enhanced Defence Forces recruitment effort; the provision of over €6 million for additional civilian recruitment and to allow for an increased spend on external expertise and services; €6 million for the full year costs of the Tribunal of Inquiry in 2025 an additional €8 million to support Air Corps fleet maintenance, airfield and training costs and €3 million to facilitate the initial payment on the contract for a replacement Defence Forces Uniform.

Capital investment in Defence will also increase by 22% to €215 million in 2025 – the highest level to date. This is a clear demonstration of the Government’s strong commitment to support the transformation of the Defence Forces into a modern, agile military force, capable of effectively responding to a range of global security threats across an increasingly challenging geopolitical landscape.

The main Defence equipment projects set to progress in 2025 include military radar, subsea awareness, software defined radio and a range of force protection projects. In addition, this level of capital funding will also enable progress to be made on a number of key infrastructural projects encompassing accommodation, dining, storage and training projects across various military installations.

The Defence Vote also provides significant funding for Civil Defence, Reserve Defence Force and the Irish Red Cross Society, and all will receive additional funding in 2025.

The allocation for the Army Pensions Vote, which is mainly demand-led and non-discretionary, has increased by €12m to €329m in 2025 and will provide pension benefits to 13,600 Army Pensioners and their dependants.

This significant allocation provided in Budget 2025 will allow Defence to deliver services across its key strategic elements: Defence Policy, ensuring the capacity to deliver, and Defence Forces operations and will ensure that the Defence Forces continue to have the resources necessary to deliver on all roles assigned by Government, both at home and overseas.