The table below outlines the expenditure in the past five years by the IDA utilising legal firms and consultancy firms in relation to 13 Freedom of Information Requests, which, I understand, IDA Ireland has also supplied directly to the Deputy:
|
Addleshaw Goddard
|
€2,460.00
|
|
Beauchamps
|
€15,846.47
|
|
Byrne Wallace
|
€104,501.80
|
|
Eversheds Sutherland
|
€3,683.85
|
|
Mason Hayes & Curran
|
€10,719.45
|
|
McCann Fitzgerald
|
€28,288.40
|
The table below outlines the breakdown of the individual requests covered:
|
FOI 1
|
€2,460.00
|
|
FOI 2
|
€3,683.85
|
|
FOI 3
|
€4,988.24
|
|
FOI 4
|
€5,763.78
|
|
FOI 5
|
€5,844.96
|
|
FOI 6
|
€7,380.00
|
|
FOI 7
|
€8,268.68
|
|
FOI 8
|
€8,466.47
|
|
FOI 9 & 10
|
€10,719.45
|
|
FOI 11
|
€14,255.94
|
|
FOI 12
|
€15,662.27
|
|
FOI 13
|
€78,006.33*
|
It should be noted, in respect of FOI 13, that IDA Ireland appealed a decision of the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) to the High Court. The matter was listed for hearing in January 2023. The matter was settled, with a High Court Order being made that the decision of the OIC be set aside and the matter remitted to the OIC, to be assigned to a different OIC investigator. No order was made as to costs in the case, with each side bearing their own legal costs. The legal costs figure set out above in respect of this matter includes the costs of this High Court appeal.
Finally, the IDA notes that the law relating to Freedom of Information is a specialised area of law, requiring detailed knowledge of the governing legislation, the relevant legal principles, the relevant Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) decisions and the relevant court decisions. Both because of the specialised nature of the legal issues involved, and the existing workload of its internal solicitors, IDA has relied on its panel of external law firms to advise the Agency in relation to these 13 FOI requests. As with all resourcing issues, this matter is kept under review by the Executive and Board of the IDA.
