The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage announced on 18 July 2025 that its Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant scheme has disbursed €155.2m since launch, returning 2,856 vacant properties to residential use. The scheme has approved 9,979 applications, with Q2 2025 showing a threefold increase in completed grants compared to Q2 2024. Donegal Council leads applications with 1,247 submissions, followed by Cork County Council with 1,164. The scheme, launched in July 2022, continues to process 13,737 total applications nationwide.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage published an update to its Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Part 1 on 9 July 2025. The strategy includes comprehensive assessment of Ireland's marine environment status, revised Good Environmental Status characteristics, and environmental targets under Articles 8, 9, and 10 of the EU MSFD. For the first time, the assessment incorporates climate change and ocean acidification impacts, drawing from over 20 monitoring programmes and 22 scientific assessments, following public consultation conducted July-September 2024.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage announced on 13 May 2025 a two-year extension of the First Home Scheme to June 2027, alongside €30m in additional funding. The shared equity scheme's total state funding now reaches €370m, matched by participating banks for a total of €740m. The scheme, which aids first-time buyers and eligible homebuyers bridge deposit-mortgage gaps, saw 858 applications in Q1 2025, up 49% from Q4 2024, with 6,700 buyers approved since its 2022 launch.

This Practice Note gives practical advice as to why a party would instruct an expert witness in a claim, and how to identify the right expert. It is important to know at what point in litigation an expert should be engaged, and how to ensure that the expert will provide the necessary opinion to strengthen a party’s case. Why involve an expert witness? An expert witness in civil proceedings can be engaged to explain a technical or specific matter that is relevant for the court’s determination of issues between the parties. This could include an expert explaining complicated engineering processes or the preservation of art and other historical items. An expert can also be engaged to provide an opinion in an area where they have substantial specialised knowledge and experience An example of this would be a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in medical negligence proceedings providing his opinion and insight into medical practices, standards of care and general and approved conduct in orthopaedics. With

This Practice Note is a guide for Irish Employers on the stages of implementing a training programme to support the appraisal process. An appraisal process can deliver significant improvements in morale, skills and staff retention, but to achieve these goals everyone involved needs to understand how to conduct effective appraisals and be aware of what appraisals can and cannot deliver. Why appraisal training is required Appraisals can cause a great deal of anxiety for many managers and employees. Managers are typically concerned about: • the time taken to complete them • how to give feedback that is critical • the feedback they may receive from their team and other colleagues • adverse reactions from individual appraisees (tears, anger etc) • completing the paperwork appropriately Appraisees’ main concerns are: • fear of hearing where they are under-performing • concerns about pay and reward (if appraisals are linked to financial incentives) • cynicism about the effectiveness of appraisals • not having the opportunity to put forward their version of events • what

Performance management is central to the relationship between employee and manager. Both should know what needs to be done to meet their own goals and contribute to those of the business as a whole. The appraisal process is an important element of performance management. The guidance below sets out best practice in drafting a competency-based appraisal form. For further information on appraisal processes, see Practice Notes: Ireland—How to manage personal development and appraisals and Ireland—How to advise on managing an appraisal meeting. Elements to include in the appraisal form Most appraisal forms include elements to allow: • a review of performance against previous objectives • an assessment of performance against the core skills required for the role (key competencies) • a mechanism for agreeing performance objectives for the next 12 months • an assessment of training needs and a personal development plan They may also have sections designed for: • comments about potential for promotion • making recommendations for individual pay awards, if appropriate Review of performance against objectives Most

This Practice Note is a guide for Irish employers on how to advise a manager on managing or conducting appraisal meetings within their organisation. Performance management is central to the relationship between employee and manager. Both should know what needs to be done to meet their own goals and contribute to those of the business as a whole. Appraisal meetings are an important element of performance management procedures. The importance of appraisals An effective performance management process focuses on: • aligning the workforce with the strategic aims of the business • improving employee performance • supporting employee development and retention • driving better business results Good performance management helps both managers and employees know: • what the business is trying to achieve • their role in helping the business achieve its goals • the skills and competencies they need to fulfil their role • the standards of performance required • how they can develop their performance and contribute to the development of the business • how they are doing • when there are performance problems What

This short guide sets out the steps to be followed to appoint a company secretary to an Irish company. For a thorough, practical guide to the legislation, case law and procedure regarding the appointment of a company secretary, see Practice Note: Ireland—Appointment of a company secretary. Determine the role of the company secretary The company secretary is the principal administrative officer of a company and has certain statutory duties under the Companies Act 2014 (Ireland) (CA 2014 (IRL)). These include the maintenance of company’s statutory (non-accounting) records and registers. The directors may delegate additional duties to the company secretary and these may be set out in the company’s constitution or the company secretary’s contract of employment. In general, a company secretary’s role will often involve: • the maintenance of the company’s non-statutory records and registers • acting as the Electronic Filing Agent for the company and filing documents with Companies Registration Office • running the agenda for, and taking minutes of, board meetings and members' meetings, and • any other duties delegated by the

This Practice Note includes information on how to arrange execution of the finance documents at physical signing meetings and, more commonly these days, virtual signings (including the use of electronic signatures). This Practice Note explains some common problems which can arise during signing or completion in the execution of documents and suggests some potential solutions to them, as well as providing some tips on how to minimise the chances of things going wrong. The lender's lawyers usually co-ordinate the execution of the finance documents either through a physical signing meeting or, more commonly these days, a virtual signing. However the documents are to be signed, the lender's lawyers will be responsible for co-ordinating the execution versions of the finance documents and making them available to all parties for execution. The borrower's lawyers might be required to assist with the execution of the finance documents (or any other transaction documents requiring execution) by their clients. While physical signing meetings still feature in the banking and

Now that you have developed a contract management process (see Precedent: Ireland—Legal contract management process), it is likely that your organisation will require you to measure the legal department’s performance of the legal contract management process to monitor its efficiency and effectiveness. This Practice Note is designed to assist you to devise suitable performance measurement metrics. Why assess? The only way to ensure the business is operating efficiently is to establish clear goals, along with key performance indicators (KPIs) to determine whether those goals are being met. This is true regardless of which facet of the business is to be managed. Why should contract management, perhaps the most basic process of a legal department, be any different? The difficulty with such metrics is that the legal contract management process is dependent on and affected by the actions and delays of third parties, both within your organisation and outside it. Also, since contracts vary so much from one situation to the next in terms of risk or overall complexity, this makes it difficult

Introduction Discovery is an important procedural mechanism in Irish civil litigation enabling parties to obtain relevant documents held by their opponents. This Practice Note sets out the process of obtaining discovery before the High Court in civil litigation and identifies steps parties can take to assist them in complying with their discovery obligations. It covers: • what is discovery • when to seek discovery • how to seek discover • making discovery • the affidavit of discovery • reform of the discovery process, and • practical considerations What is discovery Discovery is the process whereby a party to civil proceedings obtains the disclosure of a list of documents from their opponent, or in certain limited circumstances from a non-party. The regulations governing legal procedures in the Irish High Court are the Rules of the Superior Courts, 1986, as amended. SI 15/1986 (IRL), Order 31, Rule 12, Rules of the Superior Courts provides that a party to any ‘cause or matter’ may

Before you can start taking steps to take control of the contract management process in the legal department, you have to understand what the current commercial and legal processes involve. You should conduct a contract management audit that includes all the stakeholders, resources, and processes across your organisation (including the legal department) that impact how your organisation’s contracts are handled, from negotiation and creation to execution and management. This Practice Note provides suggestions as to how to conduct an audit of contract management processes together with an indication of the topics you should investigate during your audit. Conducting the audit There are several ways you could conduct an audit of contract management processes in your organisation: Method Advantages Disadvantages Impromptu hallway or office conversations. Ad hoc meetings may give you the required information if your organisation is small. —You need to steer the conversation with targeted questions. See Precedent: Ireland—Impromptu contract audit meeting questions for some sample questions.—Risk of gaining an incomplete picture. Conduct a workshop that includes a representative