The Attorney General's Office warned the budget they were being offered for 2024 was "completely insufficient" and would not even be enough to existing services.
The office was so unhappy with their allocation that Attorney General Rossa Fanning ended up writing directly to Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe to seek extra funding.
Their sister organisation, the Chief State Solicitor's Office, were also bitterly disappointed at what they said was "effectively … a significant cut" after inflation and government pay deals were accounted for.
In pre-budget correspondence, the Attorney General said they wanted to express their "surprise and concerns" that they had only been allocated €23.8m - "significantly below" what they had been seeking.
The AG's office had prepared what they said was a "substantial business case" for additional staff to meet commitments made by government and increased demand for their services.
However, they said while they appreciated this expansion might need further consideration, the budget allocation they were given would compromise their ability to "discharge … core functions on behalf of government".
"An additional €750,000 is absolutely necessary in the provisional estimates to meet essential service needs in 2024, bringing the provisional 2024 Office estimate to €24.5m," they warned.
Subsequently, the Attorney General himself wrote directly to Minister Paschal Donohoe to make a direct plea; however, that letter has been withheld by the Attorney General’s office under FOI laws.
An email between the AG and the Department on November 8 said: "As you may know, the Attorney has requested that the minister’s officials engage with this office to discuss the potential for additional resources."
In subsequent correspondence over finalising budget figures, the Attorney General’s office said it was "not satisfied" with its budget for 2024 and a formal review of department figures for the year was only being done "in that context".
A week later, the Attorney General was told that an extra €590,000 had been found by the department to add to their budget for 2024.
An email from the AG’s staff said: "Firstly, thanks to you and your colleagues for all the work undertaken to get us to this point. The additional allocations are most helpful."
There were similar issues at the Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO), who were also deeply unhappy after they too prepared a lengthy business case seeking a substantial increase in their funding levels to €56.8m.
However, that plea fell on deaf ears and the CSSO were instead granted less than €50m by the Department of Public Expenditure, which it said reflected underspending by the office last year.
In a letter, the CSSO said they too wanted to express their "surprise and concerns" and that the offer "fails to engage" with any of the issues outlined in their pre-budget submission.
The letter of October 3 said: "Taking into account the effects of inflation over the last couple of years, the final payment to be processed under the Building Momentum Agreement, additional service demands from Government Departments and a reduction in gross terms of €972,000, this effectively amounts to a significant cut in real terms."
It said the budget being offered would be insufficient for them to maintain current service levels and that they could end up seeking a "supplementary estimate" during 2024.
In response, the Department of Public Expenditure said they had noted the contents of the letter, that they believed the original allocation was sufficient but agreed they would "keep [the] office's expenditure under observation".
Reporting by Ken Foxe
