Budget 2027 funding fails to ease Garda and Defence Forces recruitment concerns

Funding for the Gardaí and the Defence Forces in Budget 2027 has not alleviated fears in either sector. 

A €6.1bn defence package to support the recruitment of 850 new Defence Force members and funding for an additional 1,000 gardaí was announced.

Cork TD and Sinn Féin spokesperson on defence, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, said: “We have heard big words from the Government on defence in recent months and in recent years, but the reality is they keep coming up short when it comes to delivery.

“The Government is still going to struggle to ensure that they deliver the equipment we need for the security threats we face.”

Mr Ó Laoghaire said he doubted that the extra garda numbers would materialise, saying: “If the current terms and conditions aren’t attracting new gardaí right now, why are they expecting them to next year?”

Ronan Slevin, general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, said: “We are under-resourced, under huge strain, and are not immune to the cost-of-living crisis.

“Successive governments have rolled out promises of 1,000 extra gardaí, and yet here we are, at the end of 2026, and the dial has hardly moved on the number of gardaí on our streets in more than a decade.

“While we give a very guarded welcome to this announcement, we must question how exactly they plan on making the job more attractive to recruits to hit these targets.”