State lawyer refuses to assist €2m lease probe

The chief state solicitor has mentioned legal issues as the reason for refusing to answer questions by the public spending watchdog about her office’s role in arranging a €2m lease on a building which was never used.

The chief state solicitor, Eileen Creedon, told the Public Accounts Committee that she didn’t feel in a position to assist it because legal proceedings against the landlord of the premises and an architect had commenced on Wednesday.

The PAC had sought to quiz Ms Creedon about a report by the Comptroller & Auditor General which criticised the role of her office in providing legal advice in the negotiation of a lease for a premises on Wolfe Tone St in Dublin to house the Bridge Project — a scheme operated by the Probation Service to reintegrate male former prisoners back into the community.