Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as teacht os comhair an choiste. Tá sé i gcónaí iontach plé a dhéanamh ar na rudaí seo.

I apologise to the Minister of State and committee members for having to leave early as I am due to speak in the Dáil shortly. I thank him for his opening statement, which was quite interesting.

I am interested in the issue of protected disclosures or whistleblowers. I introduced my Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill today. Does the Minister of State have figures for the total costs the Chief State Solicitor's office has incurred from defending the State in cases arising from protected disclosures? I will put three questions to the Minister of State now. They are quite specific and he may not have the information to hand to answer them but he can come back to me on them.

I am also interested in the total expenditure on external legal fees. We had a conversation on that on the previous occasion the Minister of State appeared before this committee. I am quite shocked at how much it costs. From the perspective of fiscal prudence, would it not be more cost-effective for this work to be done in-house through the Chief State Solicitor's office? That could be a better approach. I would be interested in his thoughts on that. When other jurisdictions contract for external legal fees, a discount often appears to be offered for services. I guess that is because it is often repeat business and states are reliable suppliers, they pay on time and do not go bust. When the Irish State contracts for external legal fees, a premium appears to be charged, rather than a discount applied, for the services. I would also be interested in the Minister of State's view on that matter.