More than €18m of Ireland's defence budget unspent and handed back to exchequer last year
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More than €18m in the defence budget for 2023 was unspent and surrendered back to the exchequer, the State’s auditor has said.
This was due to dramatic underspends in pay, offset in part by overspends in deployment, equipment and IT.
Previous estimates from the Oireachtas, detailed in the , showed €205m of allocated defence monies was unspent between 2012 and 2022 and handed back to the exchequer.
In its most recent documents, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) detailed €43.5m of the 2023 provision for permanent Defence Forces pay was unspent.
It said this was due to “a reduction in projected recruitment in 2023”, leading to lower than anticipated numbers of personnel.
In addition, there was significant underspend in the following Defence Forces areas:
- Allowances (-€3.9m), due to a reduction in security and patrol duty activity, along with reduced overseas expenditure caused by withdrawal from certain overseas missions;
- Civilian pay and allowances (-€3.5m) due to fewer civilian employees than anticipated;
- Infrastructure (-€5.8m) due to delays in the procurement process infrastructure capital programme coupled with supply chain issues;
- Health insurance (-€4m) due to the fact the extension of full private medical care to all ranks was “only launched in September 2023”.
There were considerable overspends, including:
- Capability deployment (+€27m) mainly due to a significant down payment for new radio systems, as well as military transport aircraft and inshore patrol vessels;
- Air Corps equipment (+€10.6m) due to upgrades in full in-service support and maintenance contracts;
- Communications and IT (+€5.3m) mainly due to additional procurement of equipment;
- Barracks (+€3m) due to increased cost of barrack services, cleaning contracts and engineering equipment.
The auditor also details overspends for Defence Force equipment (+€2.7m) for increased costs of maintenance and in-service equipment and weapons systems and Naval Service equipment (+€2.3m) due to increased maintenance costs.
Total staffing in Defence Forces and Department of Defence was 8,392 in 2023, compared to 8,796 in 2022.
This was mainly due to a fall in Defence Forces strength, from 8,003 in 2022 to 7,568 in 2023. The number of civil servants increased, from 379 in 2022 to 394 in 2023.
In relation to An Garda Síochána, the C&AG said an extra €3.6m was being spent on the new Garda complex on Military Road, Dublin, bringing the total expected cost to €96.7m.
Gardaí were spending €21m for a new fixed-wing aircraft, and €13.65m for a new helicopter, both due to be delivered in 2025.
Gardaí were due to spend €27.7m for its contribution towards a new border facility at Rosslare Harbour, expected to be completed in October 2025.