Changes to the government’s 2014 spending plans mean 1,400 fewer defence jobs are set to be cut than first thought.

While 1,000 jobs will still be cut, the number of compulsory redundancies will be ‘substantially fewer’ than the 2,400 first envisaged, the revised figures show.

Defence has already cut 12,000 jobs in an effort to find €1.33bn in savings demanded by the government at an earlier stage.