Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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99. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality whether there is an imminent vacancy for the position of taxing master; the process that will be used to fill this position; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33570/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Taxing masters are independent office holders attached to the High Court and are appointed by the Government.The positions of the Taxing Master and their offices are governed by the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 as amended by the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011. There are currently two Taxing Masters, the maximum permitted under existing legislation, on fixed term appointments that will expire in the coming months.

As the Deputy will be aware, Part 10 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 provides for a new and enhanced legal costs regime that 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 in this area. It also provides for the creation of a new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators that will take over the current functions of the Office of the Taxing-Master and will modernise and reform the existing system for the adjudication of legal costs. Provision is also made, for the first time in legislation, for a set of Legal Costs Principles which are found in Schedule 1 of the 2015 Act and will underpin the adjudication of disputed legal costs. The new Office will also maintain a publicly accessible register of its determinations and will have modern governance and reporting structures. It should also be noted that the Legal Costs Adjudicators will, like the present Taxing Masters, be officers of the Court.

We are, therefore, in a period of structural reform where what has been traditionally known as the "taxation" of legal costs is concerned. The transition to the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators is, therefore, a matter that requires detailed planning and sequencing so that the relevant legal and administrative arrangements are properly in place. This process will also have to take account of any intervening vacancies that may arise in the Office of the Taxing-Master in relation to the anticipated staffing and management requirements of the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators so as to ensure a smooth and legally robust transition. This includes arrangements within the Courts system where the adjudications of legal costs under the new structure will be conducted in succession to the existing taxation of costs regime. As I have indicated, this will all be part of the significant transformation of the existing taxation of costs system that will come into place with the forthcoming commencement of Part 10 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 which, the Deputy will wish to note, also contains several transitional provisions.

On 19 July 2016 I commenced those provisions of Parts 1 and 2 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 necessary to support the appointment and start-up of the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority – S.I. No. 383 of 2016 refers. On 29 September, as provided under section 7 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, I appointed, by order, 1 October 2016as establishment day of the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority – S.I. No. 507 of 2016 refers. The resolutions of both Houses approving those nominated by the prescribed nominating bodies for membership of the new Regulatory Authority were completed on 6 October in accordance with the relevant procedures and criteria in Part 2 of the 2015 Act. Dr. Don Thornhill has been appointed Chairperson of the new Authority, which held its inaugural meeting on 26 October 2016. Following these developments, it is intended that the phased commencement of the remaining Parts of the 2015 Act will be implemented over the remainder of this year and into early 2017 in relation to major undertakings in the new legislation including, I would expect, the completion of all aspects, including staffing, of the transition to the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators under Part 10 to which I have referred.

At present, my Department is examining the position as regards existing Taxing Master contractual periods and the relevant transitional provisions in the 2015 Act with a view to identifying interim solutions to facilitate the effective transition from Taxing-Master to Legal Costs Adjudicator regimes.