{"id":629358,"date":"2026-09-19T07:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T07:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/629358\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T07:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T07:52:13","slug":"soldiers-rations-cut-naval-radar-plan-paused-as-defence-forces-ordered-to-save-millions-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/629358\/","title":{"rendered":"Soldiers\u2019 rations cut, naval radar plan paused as Defence Forces ordered to save millions \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soldiers\u2019 rations, radar systems and naval<\/a> guns are among a number of areas to be curtailed by Defence Forces<\/a> to meet military spending cuts.<\/p>\n

The Department of Defence<\/a> has been ordered to find \u20ac12 million in cost savings over the next year as part of a \u20ac466 million levy being imposed across Government departments to offset a spending overrun in the Department of Education<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of the first items to be cut is food for young officers studying in university as part of their military training. Earlier this year the Department of Defence agreed to pay for rations for students studying in the University of Galway.<\/p>\n

The arrangement would have seen officers being allowed breakfast and dinner in their barracks and to take a packed lunch to college.<\/p>\n

However, they have now been told this will not be permitted and that they will have to pay for their own food. Officials estimate this will save between \u20ac50,000 and \u20ac100,000 a year.<\/p>\n

The Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, which arranged the deal with the Department, expressed frustration over the move.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is disappointing that this group of officers had been seen as an easy target by the department, and ironic that support to Defence Forces members\u2019 education has been withdrawn due to the actions of the Department of Education,\u201d said the association\u2019s general secretary, Lieut Col Conor King.<\/p>\n

Spending on equipment for the EU presidency has also put pressure on defence budgets, leading to delays in several procurement programmes, according to military sources.<\/p>\n

However, a small number of big-ticket items, including a \u20ac500 million deal<\/a> to procure land-based radar systems from France are proceeding.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0French air defence ship operates off Dublin Bay ahead of EU presidencyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Military leaders have also been told that as a result of pressures on defence budgets there are no funds currently available to advance a programme to fit naval ships with air search radars to detect airborne threats. <\/p>\n

This delay has caused significant concern among naval officers due to the growing reports of hostile drone activity by EU security services. The lack of funding for maritime radar systems has been placed on the Defence Forces\u2019 strategic risk register as a result.<\/p>\n

A programme to replace the 20mm cannon on naval ships with more advanced radar-guided guns has also been paused, along with several other naval improvement programmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been told that all spending has to be paused, barring something that could prevent a ship going to sea,\u201d said a military source.<\/p>\n

A plan to acquire a new fleet of \u201csuper medium\u201d helicopters for the Air Corps has also been delayed.<\/p>\n

The Department of Public Expenditure gave the Department of Defence the option of making cuts to expenditure on salaries to meet the levy. However, in a submission to the Public Accounts Committee, the Department of Defence said such a move would be counterproductive in light of ongoing efforts to expand the size of the military to 11,500.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0British warship and \u2018sub hunter\u2019 helicopter deployed for EU meeting in WicklowOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Defence officials also said the requirement for spending cuts would create \u201csignificant additional pressure\u201d on efforts to implement the programme of reform laid out by the Commission on the Defence Forces.<\/p>\n

It will also \u201creduce flexibility to address any emerging or unforeseen operational exigencies,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in Public Accounts Committee chairman John Brady said the levy had resulted from \u201cthe failure of the Government\u2019s initial budgeting process, which left the Department of Education short of the funding needed to deliver vital services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now learn that …other departments are having their plans disrupted and are scrambling to find cuts. This is no way to do business.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the impact it would have on the Defence Forces transformation programme was \u201cof particular concern\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response to queries, a Department of Defence spokesman said the 2027 defence budget had not been agreed and engagement with the Department of Expenditure was continuing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Soldiers\u2019 rations, radar systems and naval guns are among a number of areas to be curtailed by Defence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13308,3585,6466,14999,61,60,47679,43,12467],"class_list":["post-629358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-defence-forces","tag-department-of-defence","tag-department-of-education","tag-department-of-public-expenditure-and-reform","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-john-brady","tag-news","tag-public-accounts-committee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}