Ireland 'languishing' at bottom of EU defence spending table as budget stuck at 0.2% of GDP

Members of the Defence Forces during the 128th Infantry Battalion UNIFIL Mission Readiness Exercise (MRE) at Glen of Imaal, Co Wicklow. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Ireland continues to “languish” at the bottom of the EU table for defence expenditure, despite much-heralded increases in budgets by the last two governments.

New figures for 2025 show that Ireland’s defence budget remains “stuck” at 0.2% of GDP, or 0.3% of GNP, which removes the distorting effect of multinational profits.