Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 14 July 2022
Public Accounts Committee
2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
An Bord Pleanála - Financial Statements 2020
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
9:30 am
Mr. Dave Walsh:
We have a legal affairs unit comprising staff within the board who are experienced in interfacing with and managing our solicitors. Two solicitor firms service us and we have a range of barristers to draw on.
A recommendation in the 2016 report was that we should bring in and hire in-house counsel. We tried that and got sanctioned by the Department to advertise for in-house counsel. We did not get anybody who was willing to come in at the salary level we were applying for.