The position of Chief State Solicitor (CSS) has been offered to the law agent in Cork Corporation, Mr David O'Hagan.
The position has not been formally accepted. However, it was understood that the terms of the offer were being clarified.
Although Mr O'Hagan has not handed in his resignation to Cork Corporation, he was said to be disengaging from his duties.
The CSS position has been left open since Mr Michael Buckley announced his retirement at the end of March.
Unsuccessful internal applications for the position could cause some concern within the office, where morale has been low for some time due to issues such as under-re-sourcing.
A spokeswoman at the Government Information Service told The Irish Times that the post had been offered following an open competition.
The new Chief State Solicitor will face a different task from his predecessor, as the office faces reorganisation following the planned separation of its criminal and civil functions.
The criminal side of its work will be handed to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) under the leadership of a newly created function, Solicitor to the DPP.
The CSS office will continue to take care of the civil side of the work. Over the past few years it has had to face an increased work-load with a large number of Army deafness cases.