Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2023
137. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the figure provided by his Department to maintain existing levels of service in 2024, under his respective remits ahead of Budget 2024; the figure granted by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51174/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Defence Vote group comprises of two Votes, Army Pensions and Defence.
For 2024, an additional Existing Level of Service (ELS) requirement of €86 million was identified on the Defence Vote group, comprising of €70 million on the Defence Vote, including an additional €57 million for capital, and €16 million on the Army Pensions Vote.
Spending on the Army Pensions Vote is mainly demand-led and non-discretionary and following discussions with DPENDPDR, €15 million was provided to the Army Pensions Vote for ELS purposes in 2024.
On the Defence Vote, an additional €34 million (24%) in capital expenditure above the NDP capital ceiling was allocated for 2024. This maintained the capital spending allocation at 2023 levels. It should also be noted that Defence will be seeking further capital funding for 2024 as part of the allocation of €0.25 billion earmarked for 2024 to be funded from exchequer windfall receipts, as set out in the Summer Economic Statement. Beyond that, Defence will ensure that further progress is made through strong positive engagement with DPENDPDR on an anticipated review of Sectoral NDP multi-annual capital allocations for the medium term, set to commence in 2024.
With regard to current expenditure, and mainly to reflect reducing PDF strengths, agreement was reached to provide funding for a PDF strength of 7,700 and additional net recruitment of 400, a reduction of 500 on 2023. This reduced the overall pay allocation on the Defence Vote by €26 million. This amount, plus additional funding of €6 million, was used to address a broad range of ELS spending pressures across the Vote, encompassing Pay and Allowances, Capability Development, DF Built Environment, DF Transport, DF Training & DF Communication. This facilitated a significant increase of €32 million (18%) to the current expenditure allocation of the Defence Vote.
