The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Jim Sreenan has expressed continued concern of the risk of biological attack on Irish troops serving overseas, given the changed security environment post-September 11, 2001.
Lieutenant General Sreenan was speaking at the launch of the Defence Forces Annual Report 2003 which revealed that €3.2m was spent last year procuring nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protection equipment.
According to the Chief of Staff the possibility of a dirty bomb being deployed against forces overseas will continue to be a major influence in purchasing decisions. Last year's investment was in personnel protection and decontamination equipment and early warning software that helps to predict NBC fallout areas.
Total defence expenditure last year was €703m, just over eur19m less than expected, primarily due to savings on pay and compensation. The annual spend is now 0.8% of GNP down from 1.6% in 1991.
Capital investment fell from €41.4m in 2002 to €24m last year and was primarily focused upgrading accommodation and training facilities.
835 staff were serving overseas at the end of 2003, including the 474 personnel that were deployed to Liberia as part of a UN peace support mission during December. It was the largest logistical deployment by the Defence Forces last year at a cost of approximately €1.9m.
The Army was also involved in a number of operations supporting the civil power including providing security at Shannon Airport. The Ordnance Corps was called out on 79 occasions last year to deal with unexploded devices, 2,553 Air Corps missions were flown in support of the Gardai, while 96% of Navy patrols were in support of fisheries protection.
Military assistance was also provided for the ambulance strikes in Midlands and South East Health Board areas, the flats dispute in Ballymun, and after the Derrybrien landslide. 2,000 personnel were trained in advance of the threatened prison officers strike in early 2004.
There was an increase in applications to the Defence Forces at 3,748 but the net result of inflows and outflows was a reduction in personnel of 61, with the high level of outflow continuing to place a strain on training and operational capacity.