Oonagh Buckley was appointed as the Deputy Secretary General of the Department of Justice on 1 November 2018. 

In her role as Deputy Secretary General, Oonagh is responsible for Civil Law, which includes immigration, courts and legislation. 

Oonagh’s previous position prior to taking up her new role was Director General of the Workplace Relations Commission. Oonagh had previously worked in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, as well as in the Department of the Environment and Department of Foreign Affairs. 

She holds a BCL; a LLM in Comparative European Law; a MA in European Studies; and was called to the Bar in 1996. In 2018 she completed an MSc in Business from UCD Smurfit School of Business and in 2017 she was appointed an adjunct Professor in Law at UCC.