The Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) is an independent entity which regulates recruitment to public sector organisations and ensures that appointments are made on merit. As such, the actions of the CPSA in its management of the judicial review are a matter for itself and not my Department.
My Department has been informed by the CPSA that the legal costs it has incurred to date in successfully contesting the judicial review made by the individual who initiated the Judicial Review proceedings referred to by the Deputy amount to €148,830. This figure excludes the costs associated with the staff time taken up in dealing with the Judicial Review. A separate hearing on costs will take place in the coming weeks and I understand that the CPSA is applying to the Court seeking award of its legal costs. I am advised that the CPSA had signalled its intention to the individual concerned on a number of occasions prior to his initiation of the review that in the event that the judicial review was unsuccessful, it would seek to recover its costs.
The Secretary General to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is one of four ex-officio members of the Commission and in that capacity, participated in the CPSA's examination of the individual's original complaint that was the subject of this judicial review, was consulted regarding the decision to contest the Judicial Review and was provided with a copy of the judgment. My Department did not otherwise seek from nor has it been provided with a copy of the judgment from the CPSA although I understand the individual concerned sent it to my Department attached to a Freedom of Information request. The judgment is not - in any event - relevant to any of the functions or responsibilities of my Department. It sets out that (i) the CPSA is subject to judicial review but (ii) the CPSA did not err in law or in fact in the its consideration of the complaint and that its examination was in line with the provisions of its own Code of Practice.
My Department has been informed by the CPSA that the judgment will not have an impact on the Commission's appeal procedures as published in its Section 15 and 16 Freedom of Information manuals. Finally I understand that the impact of the judicial review case on the resources of the CPSA will largely be determined by the outcome of the court's hearing on costs.
