Lowest-ranked soldiers and sailors are set to get a €5,000 pay hike as part of a Defence Forces Budget boost, under plans to be announced by the Government on Wednesday.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister Simon Coveney are expected to make an announcement on Wednesday after Minister Coveney got Cabinet approval for the Budget on Tuesday.
The spending on the Defence Forces will increase to €1.5 billion by 2028.
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Minister Coveney said the Budget is the "biggest Government decision on the Defence Forces in living memory...and one of the biggest things I have ever done in politics.
“This is not just about increasing funding for the Defence Forces, although there is a very significant multi-annual commitment from the Government to significantly increase funding for the defence sector.
"But it’s also about a very fundamental reform of the Defence Forces, it’s about a change in culture, about getting more women in the Defence Forces.”
After much controversy about low-pay, there are major changes to allowances, these will be paid to all of those at the rank of three-star and able-seamen personnel.
Allowances will increase by €89 per week for lowest ranks, an increase of €5,000 per year. Minister Coveney said he believed the recommendation on allowances and who would be eligible for them would be welcomed by the Defence Forces.
He also asked the Government to prioritise money for military radar equipment, including primary radar with a potential cost of €200 million.
Minister Coveney told his Cabinet colleagues that while Ireland is neutral, that does not mean the country is safe and the approval of the Budget should enable the Defence Forces to respond to an attack on Irish sovereignty.
In February, the Commission on the Defence Forces reported that the Defence Forces were not currently capable of credibly defending the country against attack.
Thousands of extra civil and military personnel are also set to be hired under the Budget.
However, Minister Coveney said the recommendation from the Commission on Defence Forces was to add an extra 2,000 permanent Defence Forces personnel but “because we are 1,000 behind where we should be today, that effectively means adding an extra 3,000 people, that's around a 35% increase," he said.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said recruitment in the Defence Forces will be an "enormous challenge” and there is an “urgent need for a cultural transformation” within the Defence Forces.
The Government’s decision to increase defence spending by 50% by 2028 has been criticised by independent TD and former Army Ranger Cathal Berry.
He told Newstalk that although it is a good start it is not enough and still falls short of what the country needs.
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