Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 March 2014
132. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if banking and legal advice services worth an estimated €103 million from 2011-2013 are subject to tender and financial review. [10565/14]
View answerI should point out that contracts for banking and legal advice services are not subject to the full scope of EU Public Procurement Directives. Therefore contracting authorities have some flexibility in conducting the appropriate competitive tendering process. For example, they are not tied to the prescribed tendering procedures or timeframes for submission of tenders or expressions of interest and there is scope for dialogue and negotiation conducted in an open and fair objective manner.
However, it is a basic principle of national public procurement policy that a competitive process should always be used unless there are justifiably exceptional circumstances. Whilst it is recognised that many public authorities already tender for their legal services. My Department has issued guidelines last year to re-iterate that in procuring these advisory services, public tendering should be the norm. The Circular also sets out for the first time a helpful guide for public bodies on some straightforward measures they should take, (including under Rules of Court), to better manage and control their legal costs.
In addition, my Department, through the Office of Government Procurement, has a particular responsibility to assist public bodies that procure legal services with the objective of leveraging resources in order to achieve best value for money. In that regard the Office of Government Procurement will examine the spend on legal services across the public service and carry out a review of the markets for the various commonly used services involved to determine the appropriate commercial strategies for how such services are procured.
