Government is being asked to prioritise money for military radar equipment, including primary radar, RTE News reports.

The Minister for Defence is expected to recommend a major increase in defence spending at the Cabinet meeting later today, describing it as the "biggest Government decision on the Defence Forces in living memory ... and one of the biggest things I have ever done in politics".

Simon Coveney will update the Government on how to proceed with the recommendations made by the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces.

The minister will ask colleagues to increase defence force spending from the current €1.1 billion annually to €1.5 billlion by 2028.

This is the recommendation for what was termed "level two ambition" in the commission's report.

The commission had called for this target to be achieved by 2030, but Mr Coveney is aiming to have the funding in place two years earlier.

More here on this spending programme.