Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 17 November 2020

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Key Priorities and the Effects of Covid-19 on the Education System: Department of Education

Mr. Dalton Tattan:

On Deputy Conway-Walsh's question on the legal cases, the nature of the litigation - and litigation normally - is that costs only arise afterwards. There has been no expenditure to date in respect of the cases that are ongoing. Obviously, expenditure is potentially incurred once a legal team is engaged, etc. When a case is over, the costs are ruled on by the judge. In the event that we are successful, costs would normally follow the event, which means that the losing party pays. In the event the State loses, there is a sharing whereby the State's legal team is paid for through the Office of the Attorney General's budget, and the opposing side's legal team costs would be paid for by the Department out of its budget.