Legal Matters

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 October 2012

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Questions (229)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

229. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide details in tabular form for the years 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and to date in 2012 inclusive, of the arrangements entered into by him, any body under his aegis or State agency for which he has responsibility for the obtaining of advice from a senior or junior counsel and or a firm of solicitors; the subject matter for which advice was sought; the names of the barristers' and solicitors' firms concerned and the fees paid; the nature of the work concerned; if in each case the matter was advertised for competitive tender; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45318/12]

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

I wish to inform the Deputy that, with very few exceptions, legal advice is provided for my Department by the Office of the Attorney General and/or the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. As such, the issues of fees and competitive tendering do not arise. The specific information sought by the Deputy in respect of my Department and bodies and agencies for which I have responsibility, is outlined in the table below.

	Subject Matter	Firm Involved	Fees Paid (€)	Subject to Tender (Y/N)	Nature of Advice
2012	Development of the Insolvency Bill 2012	McCann Fitzgerald, Solicitors	199,541	N	General insolvency issues
2011	N/A
2010	N/A
2009	N/A
2008	Consolidation of the Garda Síochána Pensions Orders.	Matheson, Ormsby & Prentice	4,432	Y	Not Stated.

I wish to advise the Deputy that there are a range of agencies and bodies within the Justice sector who are statutorily independent and for whom I do not have responsibility. Information in respect of these bodies is not provided in this reply.