Editing Defence Forces (Ireland) (section)

== Funding and development ==
{{See also|List of countries in Europe by military expenditures}}

In 2020, the Irish defence budget was €1.04bn. This included €780m on defence and €259m on army pensions.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher = Houses of the Oireachtas |date=2019-11-07 |title=Budget 2020 – Thursday, 7 Nov 2019 – Parliamentary Questions (32nd Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2019-11-07/34 |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=www.oireachtas.ie |language=en-ie}}</ref> Department of Defence spending was 0.27% of GDP in 2020 and 0.29% in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TUAIRISC OIFIGIÚIL—Neamhcheartaithe (OFFICIAL REPORT—Unrevised) |url=https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debateRecord/dail/2019-10-10/debate/mul@/main.pdf |page=758}}</ref>

In 2022, the defence sector budget was €1.1bn and in July of that year the Irish government announced plans to increase this to €1.5bn by 2028. As part of the plans to move to "Level of Action 2", as of 2022, the number of civil and military personnel was set to be increased from 9,500 to 11,500. Planning also began for improvements in radar capabilities.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-07-12 |title=Largest ever increase in defence budget agreed by Government |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/largest-ever-increase-in-defence-budget-agreed-by-government/41835918.html |access-date=2024-02-08 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> The Defence Forces specified the procurement of an integrated radar system for land, sea and air function and that the Army's structures and capabilities would be redesigned to meet "international best practice". The plan also proposed the establishment of an Office of Reserve Affairs to design a Reserve Defence Forces "regeneration plan".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Defence Forces Chief of Staff welcomes historic increase in Defence budget |url=https://www.military.ie/en/news-and-events/news/defence-forces-chief-of-staff-welcomes-historic-increase-in-defence-budget.html |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=www.military.ie |language=en}}</ref> 

The projected budget for 2024 was €1.5bn, including an extra €21m over previous expenditure and €34m in capital expenditure on top of the original capital ceiling of the National Development Plan.<ref>{{Cite web|title= DEFENCE FORCES CHIEF OF STAFF WELCOMES HISTORIC INCREASE IN DEFENCE BUDGET| url= https://www.military.ie/en/news-and-events/news/defence-forces-chief-of-staff-welcomes-historic-increase-in-defence-budget.html |website=Military.ie |language=en}}</ref> This also included budget for an additional 400 enlisted personnel during 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher = Houses of the Oireachtas |date=2024-01-23 |title=Defence Forces – Tuesday, 23 Jan 2024 – Parliamentary Questions (33rd Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2024-01-23/52 |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=www.oireachtas.ie |language=en-ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Department of Public Expenditure |first=And Reform |date=March 21, 2025 |title=DPER Databank |url=https://databank.per.gov.ie/Expenditure.aspx?rep=NetVA}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="4" |Defence expenditure 1999–2019 as a percentage of GDP<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Houses of the Oireachtas |date=2021-02-25 |title=Defence Forces Expenditure – Thursday, 25 Feb 2021 – Parliamentary Questions (33rd Dáil) – Houses of the Oireachtas |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2021-02-25/147 |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=www.oireachtas.ie |language=en-ie}}</ref>
|-
!Year
!Defence expenditure €m
!Gross Domestic Product €m
!Expenditure as % of GDP
|-
|1999
|760
|92,669
|0.82%
|-
|2000
|820
|108,400
|0.76%
|-
|2001
|731
|122,010
|0.60%
|-
|2002
|725
|135,956
|0.53%
|-
|2003
|711
|145,534
|0.49%
|-
|2004
|733
|156,189
|0.47%
|-
|2005
|759
|170,231
|0.45%
|-
|2006
|772
|184,914
|0.42%
|-
|2007
|817
|197,130
|0.41%
|-
|2008
|880
|187,620
|0.47%
|-
|2009
|804
|169,786
|0.47%
|-
|2010
|744
|167,674
|0.44%
|-
|2011
|704
|170,951
|0.41%
|-
|2012
|657
|175,104
|0.38%
|-
|2013
|667
|179,616
|0.37%
|-
|2014
|673
|195,148
|0.34%
|-
|2015
|671
|262,853
|0.26%
|-
|2016
|671
|270,809
|0.25%
|-
|2017
|681
|300,387
|0.23%
|-
|2018
|701
|326,986
|0.21%
|-
|2019
|756
|356,051
|0.21%
|-
|2020
|781
|
|
|-
|2021
|755
|
|
|-
|2022
|802
|
|
|-
|2023
|872
|
|
|-
|2024
|908
|
|
|-
|2025
|995
|
|
|}