Taoiseach’s office to see biggest cuts

IT might have the smallest spend of all 16 government departments but the Department of the Taoiseach will incur one of the biggest percentage cuts in the 2012 budget.

The Department of the Taoiseach, which controls funding for the state’s legal offices and the Central Statistics Office, will see its expenditure reduced to €156.4 million next year — a cut of €20.7m or 11.7%.

The expenditure report said the main challenge for the department’s budget was the need by the offices of the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions to secure a cut in legal fees payable by the state. The department warned it will be necessary to introduce legislation to bring about structural savings on legal costs, a move likely to be strongly resisted by legal professionals.