International comparison of military expenditure is hindered by the lack of publicly available data, along with the breadth of difference between nations in their international security and defence policies. In that regard, I welcome the recent publication of ‘The Military Balance 2025’, as conducted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which comprehensively and objectively analyses differing defence perspectives, priorities and budgets across over 170 countries, bringing them together in a single publication.
I fully acknowledge that there is an ongoing requirement to consider whether the defence capabilities we maintain are appropriate, having regard to the prevailing security environment, associated risks and the roles envisaged for the Defence Forces, both national and international. It is for these very reasons that the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces was commissioned. This far-reaching, independent report, published in 2022, comprehensively evaluated Defence policy, capability and funding matters. The implementation of this report’s recommendations, through the Strategic Framework and Detailed Implementation Plan, are facilitating huge levels of strategic transformation in the Defence Forces.
As part of this report, it highlighted, inter alia, that Ireland’s defence spending both as a percentage of GDP and as a percentage of GNI* was comparatively low across EU Member States. However, in the period since the publication of the Report, the Defence Vote Group budget has risen substantially, to €1.35 billion in 2025, a 23% increase since 2022. This represents significant progress on the Government’s commitment to increase the Defence budget to €1.5 billion by 2028, at 2022 prices, as part of the annual budgetary process. For 2026, it is my intention to build further on these increases, as part of upcoming Estimates and associated National Development Plan review discussions.
