FIANNA FÁIL has criticised the appointment by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter of another political donor to a key legal post.
Mr Shatter yesterday defended his appointment of legal costs accountant Declan O’Neill as Taxing Master. Mr O’Neill made a €1,000 donation to Mr Shatter in 2007 and has also carried out work for the minister’s legal firm.
Mr Shatter’s latest appointment follows that of barrister Oliver Connolly, who also gave him a €1,000 donation in 2007, to a post dealing with whistleblowers in the Garda Síochána last October.
Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Dara Calleary said the appointment by Mr Shatter and other Ministers of political donors to Government posts was becoming a trend. He said there was no doubt that Mr O’Neill was “incredibly well qualified” to serve as Taxing Master and welcomed the fact that the Minister had publicly acknowledged receiving a donation from him. However, the fact that he was a donor undermined the appointment process “in terms of public perception”, he claimed.
Sinn Féin justice spokesman Jonathan O’Brien agreed that Mr O’Neill was well-qualified, but the perception would be that Mr Shatter was “giving another job” to one of his donors.
Mr O’Neill, a partner in the legal costs accountants firm of Cyril O’Neill since 1976, was one of the three names sent to the Government by the Public Appointments Service, which conducted a competitive process after seeking expressions of interest.
The position, which carries an annual salary of €145,952, is one of two, and became vacant following the retirement of Charles Moran last December. The other Taxing Master, James Flynn, remains in office.
This is the first time the position was openly advertised and a competitive process took place. It is also the first time the position was open to barristers and legal costs accountants of more than 10 years’ experience. Previously the position was limited to solicitors.
The Taxing Master adjudicates disputed legal costs, generally when costs are awarded by a court against the losing side in a dispute.
The position will be abolished when the Legal Services Regulation Bill is passed and the position is absorbed into a new Office of Legal Costs Adjudicator.
Welcoming the appointment yesterday, Mr Shatter said of the appointment: “As declared in my Standards in Public Office return, Mr O’Neill contributed €1,000 to my election campaign in 2007. As a leading practitioner in his field, he has also undertaken work pursuant to instructions from my former legal practice as, indeed, he has for many legal firms throughout the country.
“As the outstanding candidate for this position, it would be completely wrong if he were excluded from appointment to it having been nominated by the Public Appointments Service due to his having made a political donation or due to professional work undertaken by his practice.”
Mr O'Neill graduated from UCD with a BCL in 1992 and obtained a diploma in arbitration law in 1998. He represented legal firms, commercial entities, the State and agencies before the Taxing Master, contributed the costs chapter to the Law Society publication Civil Litigationand to the Competition Authority report on the legal profession and the Haran group's report on legal costs.