Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 July 2025
779. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the total annual expenditure on external legal fees by all Government Departments and agencies under their aegis, for each of the past five years; the steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40848/25]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy seeking the amount spent by my Department on external legal fees is as follows:
|
Year |
List the total annual expenditure on external legal fees |
|
2021 |
€525,505 |
|
2022 |
€76,314 |
|
2023 |
€108,446 |
|
2024 |
€167,018 |
|
2025 |
€31,968 (Up to 17 July 2025) |
My Department has a legal advisor seconded from the Attorney General’s office who provides legislative and internal legal advice. My Department also engages with the Attorney General’s Office and the Chief State Solicitors Office for strategic legal advice on constitutional and legislative matters, and they provide legal representation in litigation.
Where there is a minor issue related to areas such as individual HR advice, pensions advice or other specific advices, my Department will utilise external legal advice who can provide case specific advice for relatively low cost. My Department is always mindful of external legal costs and tracks them on the financial system, as with other expenditure.
The position for the bodies under the aegis of my Department is as follows:
National Shared Services Office
|
Year |
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees |
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure |
|
2020 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2021 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2022 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2023 |
€34,000 |
The NSSO controls and monitors its expenditure on external legal fees. Where possible, it engages internally with the CSSO and/or the Office of the Attorney General on legal matters and only seeks external legal support where necessary. |
|
2024 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2025 |
Nil |
N/A |
State Laboratory
|
Year |
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees |
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure |
|
2020 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2021 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2022 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2023 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2024 |
Nil |
N/A |
|
2025 |
Nil |
N/A |
Office of the Ombudsman
|
Year |
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees |
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure |
|
2020 |
€348,000 |
See below |
|
2021 |
€402,000 |
See below |
|
2022 |
€160,000 |
See below |
|
2023 |
€325,000 |
See below |
|
2024 |
€463,000 |
See below |
|
2025 |
N/A |
See below |
The Office of the Ombudsman expects litigation costs in each year, as there is a statutory right of appeal from the decisions of two of the offices. All six offices may be subject to judicial review challenges, in addition to legal proceedings which form part of each office’s remit, such as investigations by the Standards in Public Office Commission. However, the Office continues to take measures to reduce legal costs overall. The in-house legal team currently manages all of the litigation brought against each statutory office, meaning that the costs of solicitor legal representation are largely absorbed in the pay budget. The in-house legal team also provides advice and support to each statutory office to support the exercise of their functions in a manner that avoids litigation being brought and avoids, insofar as possible, adverse decisions on any litigation that is brought. In addition, the Office has moved to the State Claims Agency (SCA) the negotiation of the amount of opposition costs that may be payable by the Office, once an award of costs has been made by a Court against the Office.
In regard to 2025, it is not possible to confirm expenditure for 2025 given the nature of legal costs. There are live matters still under consideration, which are yet to be invoiced for or considered for approval purposes by the Office meaning any figures provided in this respect would not form an accurate reflection of 2025 costs.
Public Appointment Service
|
Year |
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees |
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure |
|
2020 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2021 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2022 |
€581.79 |
The Public Appointment Service normally use the services of the CSSO. |
|
2023 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2024 |
Nil |
Nil |
|
2025 |
Nil |
Nil |
Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery
|
Year |
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees |
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure |
|
2020 |
€55,707 |
See below |
|
2021 |
€84,012 |
See below |
|
2022 |
€28,803 |
See below |
|
2023 |
€74,932 |
See below |
|
2024 |
€55,726 |
See below |
|
2025 |
Nil (as at 31 May 2025) |
See below |
For the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery, all matters requiring legal inputs are considered, in the first instance, using internal resources. Where, following management assessment, it is deemed appropriate to engage external legal advisers, a specific subject matter purchase order is put in place to monitor costs by matter. All decisions to engage external legal advice are made by the Regulator. External legal costs are reviewed every 2 months at regular Finance Committee meetings to monitor costs throughout the year.
Variances in external legal costs from expected costs are monitored at Finance Committee meetings and actions are taken, where necessary and appropriate, to avoid further external legal fees in the matter.
