Legal Proceedings

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 January 2011

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

Questions (859)

Alan Shatter

Question:

912 Deputy Alan Shatter asked the Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs in respect of each of the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 if he will give details of the number of court cases initiated in each year in which he or his predecessor was named as a defendant; the number of such cases in each year initiated in the District Court, Circuit Court or High Court; the nature of the proceedings taken, for example, the number of cases in which damages were claimed; judicial review was sought of decisions made or were constitutional challenges and so on; whether in all such cases legal representation was provided by the Chief State Solicitor’s office and if not, by whom; if he will detail the legal costs incurred by his Department in each of the said years in respect of any such litigation and to provide a breakdown of same including details of fees paid to solicitors and barristers; to detail the number of cases in each of the aforesaid years that were lost and in respect of which he or the State was ordered to pay the plaintiff’s costs and the amount of costs so paid in each of the aforesaid years. [1632/11]

Written answers

Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs (Deputy Pat Carey)

The table below sets out the position as at 31 December 2010 regarding court cases initiated during the period 2008-10, in which I or my predecessor were named as defendants. It should be noted that a number of the cases listed relate to equality functions transferred from the Department of Justice and Law Reform to my Department on 1 June 2010.

Details of case	Nature of proceedings	Court in which case was initiated	Was legal representation provided by Chief State Solicitor’s Office	Legal costs incurred by Department	Outcome of Case	If the case was lost, details of plaintiff’s costs paid
Michelle Maguire — v — Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Ireland, Attorney General and Philip Keegan	Employment case	Circuit Court	Yes	Nil	Struck out	N/A
Thomas McNally — v — Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Ireland and Attorney General	Constitutional challenge to section 99 of Charities Act 2009	High Court	Yes	Nil	Won. However, notice of appeal has been lodged.	N/A
Executive Helicopters Maintenance Ltd — v — Minister for Social Protection, Attorney General and Connacht Tribune	Allegation of defamation	Circuit Court	Yes	Nil	Proceedings ongoing	N/A
Executive Helicopters Maintenance Ltd — v — Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs, Ireland and Attorney General	Judicial review sought of decision to award Aran Islands PSO air service	High Court	Yes	Nil	Proceedings ongoing	N/A
Réalt na Maidne Teo — v — Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs	Judicial review sought of decision to award Árainn Mhór ferry service contract	High Court	Yes	Nil	Proceedings ongoing	N/A
Michael Ringrose — v — People with Disabilities in Ireland Ltd, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ireland and Attorney General	Employment case	High Court	Yes	Nil	Proceedings ongoing	N/A
Martin Donnellan — v — Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Ireland and Attorney General	Challenge by an Assistant Commissioner of An Garda Síochána to mandatory retirement at age 60 years, contrary to Employment Equality Acts and/or EU anti-discrimination law	High Court	Yes	Nil	Judgement delivered in July 2008 but not yet perfected. Claim dismissed, with no order as to costs.	N/A