Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform
Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
2:25 pm
Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I should comment on subhead C8, the significant increase in legal fees. It goes up, from the voted figure last year of €178,000 to €230,000. There is an entirely new focus on environmental information. I was certainly of the view that it is an area on which the Information Commissioner needs robust legal opinion and legal support because there will be more appeals on environmental information grounds. I acceded to the request. It looks like a significant increase, certainly on the outturn figure for last year.