My Department generally avails of in house legal services and the services of the Chief State Solicitor's Office as need be. Occasionally and depending on the individual characteristics and complexity of specific cases, it has engaged private Solicitor Firms and Junior and Senior Counsel for external legal advice.
I wish to inform the Deputy that, the amount spent by my Department on legal costs or legal services in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022 is set out below.
Year
|
Expenditure incurred on Legal Costs or Legal Services€
|
2012
|
186,066
|
2013
|
144,062
|
2014
|
157,814
|
2015
|
279,429
|
2016
|
38,583
|
2017
|
648,191
|
2018
|
84,142
|
2019
|
706,198
|
2020
|
319,111
|
2021
|
454,153
|
2022 to date
|
153,562
|