Written answers

Tuesday, 29 July 2025

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Departmental Data

Photo of Grace BolandGrace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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779. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total annual expenditure on external legal fees by all Government Departments and agencies under their aegis, for each of the past five years; the steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40848/25]

Photo of Jack ChambersJack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy seeking the amount spent by my Department on external legal fees is as follows:

Year
List the total annual expenditure on external legal fees
2021 €525,505
2022 €76,314
2023 €108,446
2024 €167,018
2025 €31,968 (Up to 17 July 2025)

My Department has a legal advisor seconded from the Attorney General’s office who provides legislative and internal legal advice. My Department also engages with the Attorney General’s Office and the Chief State Solicitors Office for strategic legal advice on constitutional and legislative matters, and they provide legal representation in litigation.

Where there is a minor issue related to areas such as individual HR advice, pensions advice or other specific advices, my Department will utilise external legal advice who can provide case specific advice for relatively low cost. My Department is always mindful of external legal costs and tracks them on the financial system, as with other expenditure.

The position for the bodies under the aegis of my Department is as follows:

National Shared Services Office

Year
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure
2020 Nil N/A
2021 Nil N/A
2022 Nil N/A
2023 €34,000 The NSSO controls and monitors its expenditure on external legal fees. Where possible, it engages internally with the CSSO and/or the Office of the Attorney General on legal matters and only seeks external legal support where necessary.
2024 Nil N/A
2025 Nil N/A

State Laboratory

Year
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure
2020 Nil N/A
2021 Nil N/A
2022 Nil N/A
2023 Nil N/A
2024 Nil N/A
2025 Nil N/A

Office of the Ombudsman

Year
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure
2020 €348,000 See below
2021 €402,000 See below
2022 €160,000 See below
2023 €325,000 See below
2024 €463,000 See below
2025 N/A See below

The Office of the Ombudsman expects litigation costs in each year, as there is a statutory right of appeal from the decisions of two of the offices. All six offices may be subject to judicial review challenges, in addition to legal proceedings which form part of each office’s remit, such as investigations by the Standards in Public Office Commission. However, the Office continues to take measures to reduce legal costs overall. The in-house legal team currently manages all of the litigation brought against each statutory office, meaning that the costs of solicitor legal representation are largely absorbed in the pay budget. The in-house legal team also provides advice and support to each statutory office to support the exercise of their functions in a manner that avoids litigation being brought and avoids, insofar as possible, adverse decisions on any litigation that is brought. In addition, the Office has moved to the State Claims Agency (SCA) the negotiation of the amount of opposition costs that may be payable by the Office, once an award of costs has been made by a Court against the Office.

In regard to 2025, it is not possible to confirm expenditure for 2025 given the nature of legal costs. There are live matters still under consideration, which are yet to be invoiced for or considered for approval purposes by the Office meaning any figures provided in this respect would not form an accurate reflection of 2025 costs.

Public Appointment Service

Year
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure
2020 Nil Nil
2021 Nil Nil
2022 €581.79 The Public Appointment Service normally use the services of the CSSO.
2023 Nil Nil
2024 Nil Nil
2025 Nil Nil

Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery

Year
Total annual expenditure on external legal fees
Steps being taken to monitor and control such expenditure
2020 €55,707 See below
2021 €84,012 See below
2022 €28,803 See below
2023 €74,932 See below
2024 €55,726 See below
2025 Nil (as at 31 May 2025) See below

For the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery, all matters requiring legal inputs are considered, in the first instance, using internal resources. Where, following management assessment, it is deemed appropriate to engage external legal advisers, a specific subject matter purchase order is put in place to monitor costs by matter. All decisions to engage external legal advice are made by the Regulator. External legal costs are reviewed every 2 months at regular Finance Committee meetings to monitor costs throughout the year.

Variances in external legal costs from expected costs are monitored at Finance Committee meetings and actions are taken, where necessary and appropriate, to avoid further external legal fees in the matter.

Photo of Grace BolandGrace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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780. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of public bodies that reported legal costs exceeding €50,000 in any of the past three years; the purpose of these legal services; whether any central oversight exists to ensure value for money in procurement of legal services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40849/25]

Photo of Grace BolandGrace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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781. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform whether he has considered introducing guidelines or a centralised legal services framework to control escalating legal costs across the public service; if so, the timeline for implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40850/25]

Photo of Grace BolandGrace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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782. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the oversight mechanisms in place to ensure that public bodies adhere to the public spending code when procuring legal services; how compliance is monitored; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40851/25]

Photo of Jack ChambersJack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 780 to 782, inclusive, together.

Individual Accounting Officers are responsible for ensuring that their public procurement functions are discharged in line with the standard accounting and procurement rules and procedures and are accountable for expenditure incurred to deliver maximum value for money for the taxpayer. It is the responsibility of Individual Contracting Authorities to establish arrangements for ensuring the proper conduct of their affairs, including conformance to standards of good governance and accountability with regard to public procurement.

All Public Bodies are required to report on legal costs and settlements where they exceed €50,000 or where a single case exceeds €50,000 in the year of account. For both commercial and non commercial State bodies the relevant requirement is outlined in The Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, Business and Financial Reporting Requirements, Annual Report and Financial Statement.

For Central Government Departments and Offices that prepare an annual appropriation account, the requirement to report on legal costs is outlined in the annual appropriation account circular and guidance document. These reporting requirements relate to legal costs in respect of legal proceedings.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Chief State Solicitors Office (CSSO), a constituent part of the Attorney General’s Office, is the principal provider of solicitor legal services to Central Government Departments. Details of legal costs paid by the CSSO for cases where the CSSO is representing the Department are reported on in the appropriation account of the CSSO.

Information in respect of reported legal costs exceeding €50,000 for Public Bodies is not held centrally by my Department.

The Office of Government Procurement (OGP), a division of my Department, has since 2015 established 25 individual procurement solutions for the provision of legal services. These include central solutions for use by all Public Bodies (excluding Central Government Departments), sectoral specific solutions, and solutions for individual Public Bodies. As previously mentioned, the CSSO is the provider of legal services to Central Government Departments.

These procurement solutions promote value for money through the inclusion of pricing mechanisms to assist Public Bodies to establish cost certainty, including the use, as appropriate, of capped rates and fixed pricing rates. In Multi-Supplier Framework Agreements, where mini-competitions apply, clients also have the opportunity to seek a further reduction on capped rates through the mini-competition process.

As a Central Purchasing Body, OGP’s role is to aggregate the State’s buying power by establishing central buying solutions that deliver overall value for money while providing for the inclusion of Government’s horizontal policy objectives. These solutions also achieve administrative savings, process efficiencies and eliminate duplication of effort across Public Bodies and economic operators. As the central solutions include the State’s preferred terms and conditions central solutions are effective in managing risk, including adherence to public procurement obligations.

To further assist Public Bodies, my Department published Circular 05/13: Procurement of Legal Services and Managing Legal Costs. The Circular sets out a number of approaches and tools for Public Bodies to use in managing legal costs. My Department has also published the Public Procurement Guidelines for Goods and Services to provide a comprehensive interpretation of the public procurement regulations. The guidelines are designed to improve consistency and promote best practice in the application of the public procurement rules to deliver best value for money. These guidelines specifically address the importance of active management by Contracting Authorities of contracts to maximise value for money and describes actions that should be taken in managing contracts.

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