The Irish Naval Service patrol vessel LÉ Samuel Beckett could be seen patrolling off the coast, supported by a British Royal Navy warship positioned outside Irish territorial waters. File picture
Defence minister Helen McEntee and EU diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas were both pressed this morning about Ireland’s record as one of the lowest defence spenders in Europe.
They were speaking to national and international media as they entered a meeting of EU defence ministers at Druids Glen Hotel, Co Wicklow, as part of Ireland's Presidency of the EU.
Gardaí and Defence Forces have a significant security operation in place, with the Defence Forces’ counter-drone technology visible at the event and Air Corps helicopters regularly circling.
The Irish Naval Service patrol vessel LÉ Samuel Beckett could be seen patrolling off the coast, supported by a British Royal Navy warship positioned outside Irish territorial waters.
International and national media raised Ireland’s defence spending, which, as reported by the Irish Examiner last July, remains at the bottom of the EU defence spending table, with just 0.2% of GDP (or 0.3% of GNI) allocated to defence.
Figures published by the European Defence Agency revealed that 23 of the EU's 27 member states have met or exceeded defence spending equivalent to 2% of GDP.
‘Our funding will continue to increase’
Responding to questions on this and whether Ireland was doing enough, Ms McEntee said: “What I can assure people is that our funding will continue to increase. We have increased our budget by 43% in the last four years alone and we are having discussions as we speak about our budget [for 2027].”
She said European countries can be assured that both she and the Irish Government as a whole are committed to increase defence spending.
The minister said Ireland was also committed to increasing its cooperation with member states, including in the area of maritime security and technology.
Asked about the fact that Ireland’s security for the EU Presidency involved naval and air support from the likes of France and Britain, she said: “I won’t get into security details, but what I can say is we have a significant security operation in place.”
She said Gardaí were being supported by the Defence Forces and that they have been in contact with international colleagues for many years on security matters and that Ireland was “no different” from any other EU country in that regard.
Ms McEntee added: “We are investing significantly in having a new military radar. We are investing significantly in counter-drone technology, which you can see in operation. We are also investing in our maritime space.”
Kallas questioned over Ireland’s defence spending
