Vol. 522 No. 4
75 Dr. Upton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of legal actions entered into by the Department within the past 12 months; the number that have been either successful, failed or ongoing; the total cost of these actions; the number of barristers employed; and the amount of money given to each barrister. [19069/00]
The number of prosecutions taken by the Department between January 1999 and June 2000 was 1,297. Of these 965 were successful, 257 failed and 76 are ongoing. In addition, the Health and Safety Authority obtained High Court orders relating to places of work on four occasions in 1999 and on one occasion to date in 2000. On 22 September 1999 the High Court appointed, on my petition, three inspectors to investigate the affairs of Ansbacher (Cayman) Limited, under section 8 of the Companies Act, 1990.
My Department and its associated offices would have borne the administrative costs of preparing the cases. Identifying these costs would involve a disproportionate amount of time. The number of barristers employed and the amount of money given to each barrister is a matter that falls for payment on the Vote of the Chief State Solicitor.
Where proceedings have been instituted against my Department, these proceedings, where appropriate, have been referred to the Chief State Solicitor for advice or for action.
