Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

I thank the speakers who have contributed. We all agree that the State should act in the public interest, broadly construed, in pursuing litigation and should consider the broader public interest before taking certain procedural steps in litigation. This is the reason the Government approved the adoption of State litigation principles two years ago. They serve as guidelines in the conduct of litigation by the State. The 15 litigation principles inform how the State views public interest in the context of litigation. The litigation principles provide a more suitable approach for the State rather than an overtly prescriptive and inflexible statutory rule that carries with it the risk of damage to the State's ability to litigate properly in the public interest.

In terms of legal professional privilege, the Government, as a client of the Attorney General, is in receipt of advice and is entitled to the same professional privilege as any other client in receipt of legal advice. The Attorney General in his or her advices will often draw attention to risks or legal vulnerabilities with a policy proposal or Bill. As Deputies would expect, every effort is always made in the development of policies and legislation to remove or reduce to a minimum the extent to which the State and the taxpayer may be exposed to risk and litigation. However, removing the privilege for this kind of advice may lead to the revelation of possible legal risks or vulnerabilities that could be leveraged in actions against the State or could see strands of costly litigation against the State seeking to exploit potential legal vulnerabilities, which would not be in the public interest.

This Private Members' Bill seeks to adjust the ethics regime by providing that the reference to an officeholder in the context of codes of conduct is deemed to include an Attorney General who is not a Member of the Oireachtas. Consideration of this matter will fall under the overall update of the ethics Act, which is a programme for Government commitment that is ongoing.

The principal purpose of the Bill has been to a large extent addressed by the State litigation principles and the 2025 programme for Government commitment to update the ethics in public office legislation that addresses additional elements of the Bill. I have outlined serious concerns with the Bill in terms of legal professional privilege in respect of Oireachtas business, which may cause the disclosure of very sensitive legal advice by the State in a manner that may leave legislation more vulnerable to litigation challenge. For this reason, the Government opposes the Bill as it would seriously undermine the work of the Attorney General and, by extension, the work of the Government, which the Attorney General is constitutionally charged with advising.

I have copies of my speech that I will circulate.

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