Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton, for coming to the House to deal with this matter. The issue I am raising relates to the legislation passed by both Houses on the restructuring of the adjudication system for the taxation of costs where agreement cannot be reached between a party which has succeeded in a case and a party which has lost.

There were two Taxing Masters in the High Court. My understanding is that one of those Taxing Masters has not been reappointed as her contract was for a period of five years. There is now only one Taxing Master dealing with the adjudication of High Court and Supreme Court costs for the entire country. That is not adequate.

Will the appropriate commencement notice be put in place to ensure the structure for the adjudication of costs is established and they are dealt with in a speedy manner? Several legal colleagues dealing with Departments on the other side of cases have come to me because they are finding substantial delays in dealing with the issues of costs. I am disappointed by this when one considers we insist private sector bills are paid within a timeframe of not more than 60 days, yet these issues with Departments are dragging on for 12 months and 18 months. There is no procedure for dealing with it other than we now have only one Taxing Master.

That is the reason I have been asked by colleagues to raise this matter. It is an important matter that we should deal with at the earliest possible date.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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The Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 provides for independent regulation of the legal profession to improve access and competition, make legal costs more transparent and ensure adequate procedures for addressing consumer complaints. The 2015 Act makes extensive provision in Part 10 for a new and enhanced legal costs regime which will bring greater transparency to how legal costs are charged, along with a better balance between the interests of legal practitioners and those of their clients. As part of this structural reform, under section 139(1) of the Act, the existing Office of the Taxing Master, which is an office of the High Court, is to become the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators.

The need to bring the Office of the Taxing Master to full working capacity is something of which the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, and the Department, are acutely aware. Officials are actively working with their colleagues in the Courts Service to deal with this in preparation for the changeover to the new office. The new office will come into effect with the commencement of the relevant provisions of Part 10 of the 2015 Act which they expect to happen later this year. The changeover to the new office, therefore, not only enables the introduction of key structural reforms for dealing with disputed legal costs but also enables them to reconfigure that function in a way which will better meet work demand. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality assures the Senator this detailed preparation is already being undertaken by a specifically tasked joint working group chaired at assistant secretary level by the Department of Justice and Equality and is working in close co-operation with its colleagues in the Courts Service. The working group, which has been meeting regularly, is mandated to map out and oversee the various practical steps to be taken to get the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators up and running. This work is also intended to ensure the relevant new legal costs adjudication processes, documentation, rules of court and IT systems can be put in place in a legally robust manner. By the same token, it is intended that the resourcing of the new office will reflect its enhanced statutory mandate.

These preparations are being actively supported with the expertise and experienced inputs of the current Taxing Master whose term of office has recently been extended for transitional purposes under an enabling provision which the Minister introduced specifically for that purpose under the Courts Act 2016.That Act also included a number of other measures to facilitate the timely winding down of the existing caseload of referrals before the Office of the Taxing Master.

Senators will appreciate that the transition to the new legal costs adjudicators regime is a very fundamental reform, one that requires planning and management, with careful management of potential risks, in particular. Under this working strategy, it is also anticipated that a second taxing master will be appointed shortly whose services, with those of the existing Taxing Master, will be available to transition to the new legal costs adjudicators regime and deal effectively with the existing and ongoing Taxing Master caseload.

Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I note that the Minister of State is saying a second taxing master is to be appointed shortly. Will this be in a very short timeframe such as within the next three to four weeks, or will it be within the next six months? There is a backlog and it is unfair. There was a period during which the current Taxing Master was out on sick leave, for very genuine reasons, and there was no one at all available to deal with adjudication. I ask that the second person be appointed and that the new structures be set up at the earliest possible date. We have debated this matter. The legislation dates from 2015. We really need to move on. Where people are entitled to recover costs for work that they have done, on being successful in their case, they should not have to wait for two to three years to do so.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I do not have the exact dates requested by the Senator. I will ask that they be communicated to him as soon as possible. I assure him again that the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality and her Department are fully apprised of the current issues concerning the Office of the Taxing Master and working to achieve a very early solution in that regard.