Ireland’s defense challenges are unique. Traditionally neutral, with modest defense spending, the country faces an evolving security landscape, from cybersecurity threats to supply chain risks. But rather than increasing the defense budget as a share of GDP, Ireland can look to a powerful concept:
What if the whole economy were considered dual-use?
By integrating defense needs into society and leveraging the entire economy, Ireland could self-fund many defense requirements, foster resilience, and bring direct benefits to civilians. This article explores how the Irish military could adopt a “whole economy” model of defense, inspired by Finland’s Comprehensive Security approach, applying it to self-fund across three key military budget areas: Personnel, Property, and Platforms.
What “Everything is Dual Use” Means for Irish Defense
The “everything is dual use” philosophy serves to reimagine defense as an integrated part of society, where military resources and training support civilian resilience and vice versa. Instead of relying on a larger defense allocation, the military could expand its role in civilian society, sharing resources, facilities, and training that benefit both sectors. This approach lowers costs, builds societal resilience, and strengthens Ireland’s infrastructure. Below, we explore how this integrated approach could address each key budget area.
1. Personnel: Build a Dual-Use Workforce
The Finnish Comprehensive Security model shows the value of having a trained, resilient population. By blending defense training with civilian skills, Ireland could create a workforce capable of supporting national defense and civil resilience in times of crisis. These initiatives offer multiple ways to enhance defense capabilities and societal resilience while keeping personnel costs low.
National Youth Leadership Programme (Gaisce)
The Defence Forces can coordinate with the President’s office, who leads the Gaisce national youth leadership programme and work with them to develop a set of skills and challenges that help to develop young people while equipping them with dual use skills: physical fitness, navigation, survival skills, drone piloting, cybersecurity skills, leading a team, first aid, search and rescue etc. While this programme will be a great programme for developing the country’s next generation with broadly relevant skills, it also helps to develop the pool of talent who are pre-qualified to join the defence forces, the reserves or be available to support in a time of national crisis. These challenges and training programmes could be designed for different age levels and culminate in an annual Gaisce Games, creating a regular rhythm for developing community pride. Funding can come from the Gaisce funding sources, education budgets, local government and community corporate sponsors.National (Dual Use) Job Training Programme
The Defence Forces are struggling with retention of key specialists who are being attracted by larger compensation packages from the private sector. Rather than seeing this as a negative, it is a sign that the Defence Forces is an excellent training organization. What if the Defence Forces were compensated for being excellent at training? Here’s the plan:Individuals join an academic or vocational training course that involves on the job training and development with the Defence Forces.
You get a degree or diploma in a high-demand skill such as Engineering, Medicine, Cybersecurity or Logistics.
You get 2/3/4 years of experience working within the Defence Forces, along with military leadership training.
After graduation you receive employment with an employer who desires someone with your professional training.
Most graduates who take employment in the private sector will remain involved in the Defence Forces as reserves in some capacity. A well-trained reserve force within essential civilian sectors—healthcare, energy, IT—could provide emergency manpower. Reservists would receive incentives like further educational support, tax benefits, or on-the-job training, offsetting defense costs and enhancing national resilience with a workforce capable of assisting in crises.
The Defence Forces receive funding from both the Employer Sponsor and other government departments (e.g. Social Protection if the graduate was on welfare or Higher Education if the graduate was a student)
Providing Defence Forces expertise as a service
The Defence Forces are excellent at particular skills and could continue to focus on being world class at those skills and either training other parties or providing those skills as a service. For example, the Defence Forces could be world leading at cybersecurity and either train others or provide it as a service to other parties, such as civilian government departments, the private sector, or other even governments. This is not that uncommon as a model. For instance, the Dublin Airport Authority has contracts with other airports to manage their airports for them.
2. Property: Create Dual-Use Infrastructure Hubs
Property and infrastructure can serve both military and civilian purposes, minimizing costs and maximizing resilience. Key facilities serve both civilian and defense roles and draw funding from various sources.
Commercial Partnerships
The Defence Forces could work with commercial partners who find strategic value in the Defence Forces’ facilities. For example, the Casement Aerodrome base could support both military and civilian logistics, functioning as a secondary airport for cargo and emergency response near Dublin. This dual-purpose model could generate revenue from cargo handling, while providing the defense sector with crucial logistics and aviation support during emergencies. Alternatively, the Defence Forces could work with real estate developers to develop additional real estate on Defence Forces’ property in return for some form of revenue-sharing agreement. The Defence Forces could also become testing facilities for all kinds of relevant technologies. This civilian-military partnership can go both ways. For example, will the Navy need to build new navy bases, or can it take advantage of the island’s civilian ports and harbours?National Bunker Programme
Finland can house almost its entire population in underground bunkers within 72 hours’ notice with all necessary supplies for months of living, if necessary. In peacetime (read: virtually all of the time) these facilities are available for commercial use as sports facilities, childcare facilities etc. Over 90% of these facilities were built with private money but remain a key part of civilian-military infrastructure in times of crisis. Ireland could adopt this Finnish model - and it might even help find more spaces for childcare! Parents will be delighted.Adaptive Reuse of Properties
As property values in the area begin to increase, it may be worthwhile for the Defence Forces to routinely move some bases from existing sites to other suitable sites where land prices are very cheap and develop the existing site for a more economically valuable civilian use. Adaptive civilian reuse of military property, particularly bases near attractive areas, could be a lucrative way for the Defence Forces to monetize their assets and move to other sites that are equally valuable from a military perspective but with much cheaper land prices. Cathal Brugha Barracks in central Dublin is one current example.
3. Platforms: Promote Dual-Use Technology
Equipment and technology are among the most expensive parts of a defense budget. Yet, dual-use platforms offer opportunities to share costs and boost civilian resilience. Ireland could use defense investments to foster new technologies that benefit the civilian economy while enhancing national security.
Defence Research Programme (Irish DARPA)
Change policy so that all research funding must allow the Defence Forces to be involved, if they so wish. Research with dual use benefits will be prioritized. Equally, any military funded research must have civilian applications. Concerns of some can be handled by ensuring that any research will not be used for lethal action. The Defence Forces can also take an active role in helping researchers to source other funding from EU grant authorities. With these actions, the Defence Forces can benefit from some of the annual research spending in Ireland, which is on the order of €1 billion. Cybersecurity platforms built for defense could also protect civilian sectors like finance, healthcare, and utilities. Defense forces could partner with private firms and co-fund cybersecurity infrastructure to create a national digital defense system, safeguarding both government and industry assets. The Defence Forces can also facilitate directed research programmes with competitions for technologies to solve ongoing problems the military is facing1. The Defence Forces could also advocate for some EI funding2 to be used to invest in high-potential dual-use technology, where the Defence Forces is an early and keen customer.Dual Use Industrial Base
The EI and IDA can work closely with the Defence Forces to understand where technology is going and to attract and grow companies in Ireland with a strong dual use benefit. Today, for example, areas like robotics, AI, biotechnology, cybersecurity are current. Building and growing champions and their supply chains in close proximity helps to build a more resilient technology base for the Defence Forces while keeping it at the cutting edge.Equipment Sales and Leasing
The Defence Forces or the State could establish a State-owned equipment leasing company. The company would be tasked with buying equipment at the best rates and then either sell or rent it out to third parties3, such as civilian agencies, businesses or, indeed, other governments. Specialized military equipment, like drones or advanced medical kits, could be used for civilian needs during times of peace. For example, drones designed for military reconnaissance could also be used for environmental monitoring, search and rescue, or agriculture, creating revenue opportunities and offsetting platform costs.Data as a service
The Defence Forces will have to build a service that fuses data from all types of military and civilian assets across all domains (cyber, space, air, sea, electronic, subsea etc) in order to provide total domain awareness. While there are obvious military needs for this, some of that data can be shared with civilian actors4. The Defence Forces or the State could start a company to build, operate and manage this service, with clear limits on what data can be shared with civilian customers.
Challenges and Solutions for a Dual-Use Defense Model
While integrating defense and civilian sectors is cost-effective, several challenges require strategic solutions:
Clear Coordination and Communication
A dual-use defense model requires ongoing civilian-military coordination. Ireland could establish a liaison office, similar to Finland’s sectoral coordinators, to facilitate communication and ensure each resource is accessible when needed. This office would clarify shared-use protocols and manage any sectoral conflicts.Balanced Civilian-Military Use for Property
Managing dual-use facilities like Casement Aerodrome may require specific scheduling for civilian and defense operations. Globally, similar dual-use airports have successfully adopted shared protocols, which Ireland could mirror to balance access.Cybersecurity and IP Protection
Protecting sensitive data and intellectual property is essential in shared tech and cybersecurity efforts. Data-sharing agreements could safeguard information, while public-private co-funding ensures companies benefit without compromising security.Funding and Revenue-Sharing Models
Clear agreements are needed to manage costs and revenue, especially for technology projects or property use. By adopting revenue-sharing models similar to the EU’s framework for dual-use technology, Ireland could secure co-funding and shared benefits, creating transparent, fair financing.
Conclusion: In a resilient Ireland “everything is dual use”
Ireland’s defense model doesn’t need to solely increase traditional defence spending to achieve resilience. By adopting an “everything is dual use” strategy, Ireland can support defense needs while enhancing societal resilience, creating a more unified approach that benefits all sectors. Inspired by Finland’s Comprehensive Security model, this approach makes every aspect of society—from education to cybersecurity—a resource for national security.
This dual-use philosophy redefines defense as a shared responsibility, tapping into Ireland’s talent, infrastructure, and technology to create a nation resilient to modern threats. As Ireland embraces this model, it positions itself as a leader in adaptive, integrated defense, ensuring safety and resilience for all Irish citizens in a sustainable, innovative way.
For instance, there was a recent competition in the US to build a system to take down enemy drones before they can attack a site. It led to a winning team of a few students who defeated Boeing and built a system that worked and only cost $17,000.
Given that EI claims to be Europe’s biggest VC, perhaps it has some spare funds to support startups that also support the country’s defence. Wishful thinking?
Almost all of military equipment does not involve guns and bullets or other lethal equipment. It’s more likely to be jeeps, protective gear, and so on. For equipment that it lethal and strictly military in its application, it could be limited in its sale or rental to pre-approved governments who follow international law. For the rest of the equipment, it can be leased or sold to civilian agencies and businesses also.
For example, fishermen require information about the weather, other boats, fish locations etc.