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A soldier with gardaí during an exercise.
Justice and defence
Military and garda groups launch attack on allocation for national security in Budget 2027
Defence gets €1.6 billion and Justice gets €5.9 billion.
REPRESENTATIVE BODIES FOR military and garda personnel launched stinging attacks on the national security allocation in Budget 2027.
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers announced an increase of 9% for Defence to €1.6 billion from €1.5 billion from 2026, but a reduction in budget for Justice of €5.9 billion from last year’s allocation of €6.17 billion.
It is understood the apparent reduction in justice has been enabled by savings made on reduced provision for migrants.
These are specific to changes in government policy on Ukraine accommodation, and reform of the international protection application system through the Asylum and Migration Pact.
It is understood this has led to further reductions this year in contingency funding for accommodation. More than €682 million has been saved this year across the two groups allowing for an increase in the garda allocation.
The reaction from military personnel and rank-and-file gardaí is negative with both representative groups strongly criticising the allocations.
The justice budget allocates funding for 1,000 new gardaí with the ambition of meeting the 15,000 promise.
There will also be €5 million for domestic, sexual and gender based violence initiatives.
The Irish Prison Service will get €77 million, the Courts Service with €13.5 million to fund modernisation and there will be €11.5 million for Youth Justice schemes.
The National Cyber Security Centre will get €7.5 million.
In Defence the budget rises to €1.6 billion from €1.5 billion last year. Jack Chambers, the public expenditure minister, said this is a 9% increase.
In Chambers’ speech he claimed this will result in an intake of 850 new Defence Forces personnel.
His comments are light on detail but the Minister said it allows for the purchase of equipment for the Irish Air Corps and Naval Service. There will also be an IT investment for a Joint Cyber Operations Unit, healthcare service for the Irish Defence Forces.
There is also anticipated to be €340 million in NDP funding, which he claims will include delivery of new helicopters, military radar, maritime and cyber surveillance, and modernisation of military installations.
As revealed this morning by The Journal such projects will be an awful lot more expensive than that with well-placed sources stating that there will be a need for more than €600 million annually to keep pace with the plans to modernise the Defence Forces.
Policing reaction
Ronan Slevin, general secretary of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has lashed out at the budget as uninspiring and lashed out at the lack of engagement by Jack Chambers.
“This budget does very little to inspire the members of An Garda Síochána that we represent up and down the country.
“We are under-resourced, under pressure and under huge strain and are not immune to the cost-of-living crisis that other workers are feeling.
“Successive governments have rolled out promises of 1,000 extra Gardaí and yet here we are, at the end of 2026, and the dial has hardly moved on the number of gardaí on our streets in over a decade,” he said.
Slevin said his group presented a six-point plan to make garda employment a long term attractive job for new gardaí, but he said this was ignored.
“We are now on the eve of national pay talks, and we still haven’t been told if we will even be in the room when our financial futures are being shaped.
“As of this week, almost 400 gardaí have left the job in 2026 through resignations and retirements, and this number will only get higher by the end of the year.
“The sheer lack of direct engagement by Minister Chambers and his Department with the elected members of the Garda Representative Association has been, for us, disappointing, disingenuous and almost disrespectful,” he added.
Defence reaction
The Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) in the Defence Forces released another strongly worded rebuke of Budget 2027.
In a statement the group said: “The 7.9% increase in the Defence budget (€1.49 billion to €1.607 billion), while welcome, is far from sufficient to demonstrate that Ireland is getting serious about Defence investment.”
RACO added that the State was “falling short” of its planned defence investment which, it said, was set before the security ecosystem changed with the invasion of Ukraine five years ago.
The group believes “it is difficult to see” how the State will reach its projected budget target of approx €1.8 billion by 2028 to fund the modernisation of the Defence Forces.
“At a time when all our EU partners are investing heavily, Ireland is simply treading water.
“The Detailed Implementation Plan for the Commission on the Defence Forces remains only partially funded, and one of the wealthiest European nations remains one of the poorest in terms of Defence & Security. Worrying times,” the group added.
The Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA), which represents rank and file membership, welcomed the funding and commitments on recruitment.
“However, previous budgets have included similar commitments, while a number of projects have been delayed and promised funding has not always translated into delivery. The key test will be whether the announced investment reaches the Defence Forces and delivers tangible improvements.
“Sustained funding is essential to address recruitment and retention challenges, provide personnel with the equipment and support while delivering the Defence Forces’ modernisation plans. PDFORRA will continue to press for the resources and practical action needed to strengthen the Defence Forces and support for our members who serve,” it said.
‘Big words’
The opposition has also criticised the provision for defence with Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Defence, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD, stating that the allocation comes with “big words” from the government but little in the way of delivery.
“For all of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s big talk on defence, they are still going to struggle to ensure that they deliver the equipment we need for the security threats we face.
“It simply isn’t good enough for the Government to continue to fail to deliver what the Defence Forces require moving us further along the road of delivering on the objectives of the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces,” he said.
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