Written answers
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Department of Education and Skills
Departmental Legal Services
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1001. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the total spend by her Department on external legal services in each of the past three years; the main areas of legal activity for which external advice was sought; if she will provide a breakdown by case or category; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40833/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1003. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount spent on legal fees associated with litigation, advice and settlements in each of the past three years by her Department and agencies under its aegis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40877/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1061. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if all external legal fees incurred by her Department, and by any bodies under its aegis, are charged at negotiated discounted rates; how fees are monitored for compliance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41501/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1062. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department conducts regular benchmarking, or market testing, to ensure that the rates paid for legal services, solicitors and barristers, represent value for money for the taxpayer; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41519/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1063. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to detail the procurement processes used when engaging external legal firms and barristers, including whether panels are used; how often these are refreshed; the criteria used for selection and performance review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41537/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1064. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department has conducted any audits or reviews in the past five years on legal fee spend; if so, to publish the findings or summaries of those reviews; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41555/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1065. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the internal oversight that exists within her Department to monitor the scope, duration, and cost escalation of legal services once engaged; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41573/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1066. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department makes use of capped fee arrangements, fixed-fee briefs, success-based fee models or other such arrangements in its legal engagements; if not, the reason such options are not considered; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41591/25]
Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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1067. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether any legal engagements have exceeded their initial estimated or approved cost in the past three years; if so, the number of such cases and total overrun; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41609/25]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1001, 1003, 1061, 1062, 1063, 1064, 1065, 1066 and 1067 together.
At present, my Department operates primarily with public service resources to address litigation and procure legal advice. My Department seeks, where possible, to minimise legal fees and avails of the services of the Chief State Solicitor's Office, the Attorney General's Office and the State Claims Agency in terms of the provision of legal advice and representation of the Department in Court cases. My Department also currently hosts three legal advisors seconded from the AGO, and one legal advisor seconded from the CSSO. These posts provide primary support to my Department on legal matters.
Across 2022-2024, as you are aware, due to the nature of legal proceedings the information sought regarding legal fees associated with litigation, advice and settlements is not always clear or readily available. The reference to cases settled poses significant difficulties in terms of classification, as while there may be findings in full or in part against or in favour of the Department, there are a number of potential conclusions to cases, including their being withdrawn, initiated but not pursued, an Injuries Board Assessment may be accepted, the Department may receive indemnification as appropriate, claims may be statute barred, or cases may be settled.
You will also be aware that it is often the case that there are multiple parties to such cases, of which my Department may be one such named party. In this context, there may be findings made against the defending parties, but this may not refer to matters directly under the remit of my Department.
The expenditure incurred by my Department in respect of legal costs during the years in question is as follows:
| Year | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2024 | €4,044,000 |
| 2023 | €6,678,000 |
| 2022 | €8,303,000 |
Legal costs included in the table above relate to:
- the Department's own legal costs in defending a claim taken against it;
- Payments made by the Department in respect of damages awarded by a court or agreed as part of a settlement;
- Amounts paid by the Department to cover the legal fees of the other party; and
- Ancillary costs related to the legal action e.g. medical reports, swearing of affidavits etc.
Officials in the department have endeavoured to provide accurate information to this query, however it should be noted that methods of reporting have been updated on a continuous basis and therefore there maybe some minor variances.
Regarding external legal fees for the same period (2022-2024), the expenditure incurred by my Department is as follows:
| Year | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2024 | € 404,495.00 |
| 2023 | € 370,180.37 |
| 2022 | € 34,208.88 |
External legal services are required in certain circumstances to address pressing matters where existing services are unable or would be inappropriate to operate, where there is benefit to accessing legal advice from qualified persons with expertise in the subject area and previous knowledge of the work of the area, or where it is procedurally necessary, such as in the swearing of affidavits.
In this context, the primary areas of the above spends include sanctioned expenditure on legal expertise to support Department business at times of extremely high need, which includes advising on conciliations and arbitrations relating to major projects, providing support or training in relation to appeals panels under the remit of my Department, and the provision of services in relation to employment matters.
On matters relating to procurement, oversight, and reviews of external fees, I trust the Deputy will appreciate that the wide variety of work carried out across my Department necessitates some variance in approach to such matters to adapt to the specific business needs of the relevant areas.
On the matter of procurement processes, my Department follows procurement rules as appropriate. Due to the nature of the work, my Department does not currently require establishing formal panels for such work.
In relation to a small percentage of this spend, urgency and confidentiality relating to contract administration prompted the requirement for external legal advice. Article10(d)(i) and10 (d) (ii) of the 2014/24/EU Directive provides for certain specific exclusions such as for representation of a client in arbitration and conciliation and for legal advice given in preparation of any such proceedings.
External legal services can primarily be procured and reviewed through the CSSO or the AGO. In such instances, these bodies may agree the rates of pay, rather than officials in my Department.
Where possible and appropriate, in line with the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 a Section 150 Notice may be sought setting out the basis upon which legal costs are calculated, and my Department has sought and obtained discounts from what firms referred to as the normal standard rates that they apply.
Where an adjudicator may be required for certain appeals, this individual is contracted by agreement of all relevant parties.
On internal oversight, within divisions of my Department fees are monitored prior to payment, to ensure they are in accordance with any agreement in place in respect of fees at the time of engaging external legal firms.
Where possible and appropriate for once off work, costs are fixed on a rate agreed in advance.
My Department returns to the market to allow legal entities to apply for the work on an ‘as required’ basis. This return to the market provides the opportunity for market testing and benchmarking as appropriate.
Finally, I can confirm that no overarching audit of external legal fees has been conducted by my Department over the previous five years, and my Department has no record of any legal engagements having exceeded their initial estimated or approved cost in the past three years.
Further to this, the Deputy should note regarding all of the above, the information in respect of state bodies under the aegis, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. State bodies have been provided with these questions and have been advised to respond directly to the Deputy.
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