Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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649. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the details of the process through which his Department drafts and produces legislation; if his Department outsources the drafting of legislation; if so, the Bills for which the drafting was outsourced since he took office; and the costs associated with the drafting of each Bill. [14423/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The drafting of legislation in my Department, generally follows the approach set out in Chapters 4 and 5 of the Cabinet Handbook which is available at www.gov.ie/en/publication/05c2e2-cabinet-handbook/.

Most Bills and some secondary legislation are drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (OPC), part of the Office of the Attorney General, and my officials work closely with that Office in relation to legal advisory and drafting input provided as part of that process.  It has also been the case that a small number of Bills were drafted ‘in house’, by seconded or retired Parliamentary Counsel, as are some Regulations.

The outsourcing of drafting of secondary legislation may occur, for example where a specific urgency arises or where in-house drafting resources are not available.  However, whilst external support regarding particular provisions may assist in progressing legislation, there has been no Bill outsourced for drafting since I took office and no costs have arisen to date in this regard.