22-07-2025
National Development Plan allocates almost €4bn for defence and justice capital spends
Capital spend on defence is set to total €1.7bn over the next five years under the National Development Plan (NDP), with justice due to get a total capital budget of €2.18bn.
The total allocation for the Department of Defence between 2026-2030 compares to €697m in the five years 2021 to 2025 — an increase of 144%, excluding inflation.
The total spend on the Department of Justice in 2026-2030 compares to €1.35bn in 2021 to 2025 — a rise of 61%, not factoring in inflation.
The expansion of the Department of Justice to incorporate migration explains, in part, the extra capital allocation. In addition, cybersecurity and the National Cyber Security Centre have just been transferred to it.
The National Development Review Plan 2025, published on Tuesday, outlines annual allocations across the security departments:
Defence — €300m in 2026, rising to €340m in both 2027 and 2028, and increasing to €360m in both 2029 and 2030;
Justice — €390m in 2026, rising to €430m in 2027, €440m in 2028, €455m in 2029, and €465m in 2030.
There was no detail of department allocations in the 49-page NDP review, compared to the 184-page NDP 2021-2030 document.
Levels of investment
The Government has committed to implement the second of three levels of investment (LOA2) set out by the Commission on the Defence Forces in February 2022, centred on increasing the annual defence budget from €1.1bn in 2022 to €1.5bn in 2028, based on 2022 prices.
The NDP capital spends are also based on the Defence Equipment Development Plan 2020-2024 and the Defence Capital Infrastructure Development Plan 2022-2027.
Major capital projects include three C295 surveillance aircrafts (third due in September), a refit of 80 Mowag armoured personnel carriers, a primary radar system (due in 2028), four modern helicopters (the commission recommended eight), and an expansion of the naval fleet to nine ships by early in the next decade.
The Defence Equipment Plan 2020 also mentions plans to acquire an 'air combat interceptor', but it is not clear where that plan went. It is not part of LOA2, although LOA3 does recommend a squadron of fighter jets capable of interception.
Overcrowding crisis
It is not yet clear what the breakdown is under the justice budget and how much will go to prison expansion and refurbishment, given the escalating overcrowding crisis in the Irish Prison Service. The programme for government commits to 1,500 new spaces by 2030.
Justice minister Jim O'Callaghan recently secured Cabinet agreement to accelerate the delivery of 960 of the additional spaces in Castlerea, Midlands, Wheatfield, and Mountjoy Prisons.
He said that, 'subject to the necessary funding' in the NDP, this should speed up delivery by 12 to 18 months.
