Taoiseach says increase in defence budget to build ‘agile’ Defence Forces 

The size of the Defence Forces is to increase by a further 2,000 (Damien Storan/PA)

The largest increase in defence spending in the history of the Irish state will build “an agile and modern Defence Forces”, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

The increase takes the Defence Forces budget from €1.1bn to €1.5bn by 2028 — benchmarked against inflation at January 2022 prices.