Gerard P. Craughwell says Ireland is underfunding defence
Gerard P. Craughwell criticised Ireland’s defence spending during a contribution to a political debate, arguing that the reported 43% budget increase from 2021 to 2026 overstates the real rise. He said consumer price increases reduce the growth in purchasing power to between 15% and 19%, and called for greater honesty about the state of defence funding.
Craughwell said the 43% figure is nominal and should be considered alongside the Central Statistics Office figure that consumer prices rose by 24% over the same period. He described Ireland’s defence budget as the lowest in Europe, citing a figure of 0.22%.
He criticised the transfer of €12 million from defence to cover overspending by the Department of Education, calling the defence system already starved of funds. He questioned whether money would be taken from education, health or justice if defence overspent in a future year.
Craughwell argued that Ireland is not investing enough in its defence and described the country as the weakest and most defenceless in the European Union. He concluded that purchasing military hardware is of little use without adequately paying the people who operate it.
The real value of the increase
Craughwell said the 43% figure is nominal and should be considered alongside the Central Statistics Office figure that consumer prices rose by 24% over the same period. He described Ireland’s defence budget as the lowest in Europe, citing a figure of 0.22%.
Defence funding and departmental overspending
He criticised the transfer of €12 million from defence to cover overspending by the Department of Education, calling the defence system already starved of funds. He questioned whether money would be taken from education, health or justice if defence overspent in a future year.
People as well as equipment
Craughwell argued that Ireland is not investing enough in its defence and described the country as the weakest and most defenceless in the European Union. He concluded that purchasing military hardware is of little use without adequately paying the people who operate it.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Other speeches
Tego samego dnia All speeches from this day →
Pearse Doherty
Pearse Doherty presses for 75% tax on energy windfall profits
Sharon Keogan
Sharon Keogan: Child trafficking victims are going unidentified
Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin: Protecting the Good Friday Agreement
Victor Boyhan
Victor Boyhan calls for farm energy support in Budget 2027
Brendan Smith
Brendan Smith urges action on legacy framework for families
Paul Murphy
Paul Murphy challenges government over Palestine and FAI
Transcript
Go raibh maith agat go raibh maith agat. Acting leader, we have a responsibility in politics
to be honest and truthful when we speak. And it has suited the Irish way to talk about
the 43% increase in defence budget, which is a nominal figure. It might sound good for
our European partners to pretend that we have increased our budget, the worst budget, the
lowest budget in Europe and probably in the world at 0.22%. It might sound good to say
we've increased by 43% over a five year period from 2021 to 2026. The Central Statistics
Office will tell you that consumer prices rose by 24% in that period. And when we actually
net out the purchasing power of any increase in defence, we see that we've increased
somewhere between 15 and 19%. So it's time that we started to be honest with the people
of this country. We are not putting the money into defence that we should be putting into
defence. Moreover, when the Department of Education wildly overspends, we take 12 million
off an already starved defence system to compensate for money spent by the Department of Education.
If defence overspends next year, will we take money off education, health, justice? It is
outrageous that we are treating the defence of this nation in the way that we are. We
can pretend all we want, but at the end of the day, we are the weakest, most defenceless
country in the entire European Union. And we're going to own the place, banding our
own fears of 43%. It might sound good, it is wrong in every sense of the word. And finally,
buying hardware is great, but if you're not paying the people, all the hardware in the
world is of no bloody use to you.