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"A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation." Edmund Burke
The new figures from @EU_Eurostat on government accounts show Ireland's defence spending was unchanged between 2021 and 2024. Given cumulative inflation of 25% over that time period, that means the budget was actually down by a quarter.
Compare defence budgets of other small EU countries.
* All have increased in real terms.
* All spent more than Ireland in 2024, including the much smaller and less prosperous Baltics.
* Neutral Austria spent four times more than Ireland in 2024.
* Finland, with a near identical population spent five times more, €4.3bn.
Increasingly it appears as if the Irish state does not have the capacity for change when it comes to many things, including its first duty to its citizens of providing for their security.
The new figures from @EU_Eurostat on government accounts show Ireland's defence spending was unchanged between 2021 and 2024. Given cumulative inflation of 25% over that time period, that means the budget was actually down by a quarter.
Compare defence budgets of other small EU countries.
* All have increased in real terms.
* All spent more than Ireland in 2024, including the much smaller and less prosperous Baltics.
* Neutral Austria spent four times more than Ireland in 2024.
* Finland, with a near identical population spent five times more, €4.3bn.
Increasingly it appears as if the Irish state does not have the capacity for change when it comes to many things, including its first duty to its citizens of providing for their security.
⚠️Ireland continues to “languish” at the bottom of 🇪🇺 table for defence expenditure, despite much-heralded increases in budgets by the last two governments.View quoted post on X
⚠️New figures show 🇮🇪 defence budget remains “stuck” at 0.2% of GDP, or 0.3% of GNP irishexaminer.com/news/arid-4183…
