KEEPING Ireland's army bands trained and kitted out with instruments is costing the taxpayer €4.7m a year.

The Defence Forces confirmed that more than €60,000 was spent last year on trumpets, drums and other instruments for the 98 full-time musicians.

There are three military bands in Ireland, based at Dublin, Athlone and Cork and their wages come to more than €4.6m each year.

The Defence Forces said the bands would be able to provide logistical assistance to the Medical Corps in the case of "large-scale emergency situations".

However, on a day-to-day basis, the 98 musicians are not involved in carrying out any other duties apart from their ceremonial role.

The Defence Forces said that one of the bands is in action every single day, with the number of engagements in 2008 numbered at 536.

Defence Forces spokes-
man Commandant Gavin Young said: "Since 1998, the number of bands has reduced from four to three and the number of musicians has reduced from 215.

"Most of these professional musicians have been trained internally, but since 1998, 25 professional musicians have been recruited directly.

"The Defence Forces bands were established in 1923 and since then have played a very important role for the state and not simply for the military. They participate in numerous state ceremonial events, public recitals, school visits and military events. All public recital and festival engagements are free to all members of the public.

"On occasion, they also play at pay-to-enter concerts and sporting events: on these occasions all costs are billed to the hiring organisations.

"The most obvious [example is]... the playing of national anthems for international soccer and rugby matches and the annual massed bands participation at the Dublin Horse Show."

The Defence Forces said that of the €4.721m annual cost of the three bands, more than 98.5% of this was for pay. The remainder – a total of €61,000 – was spent on equipment and instrument maintenance.

Security analyst Declan Power said: "The government – if they are interested in making cuts – would be far better served looking at the number of junior ministers we have instead."

A separate 38-strong band for the gardaí is estimated to cost around €1.6m of taxpayers' money each year.