Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 280: To ask the Minister for Finance the various legal panels for solicitors and barristers under the control of his Department or agencies under its remit; the process for getting on the various panels; if done annually or occasionally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31032/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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There are no legal panels for solicitors and barristers under the control of my Department. The Department has its own in-house legal adviser in certain functional areas, and in certain cases would avail of the services of the Offices of the Chief State Solicitor and the Attorney General. My Department does, from time to time, require specific legal services on certain matters not available elsewhere; in such instances, save in exceptional cases, normal public procurement processes are followed. With regard to agencies under the remit of my Department, the following is the position:

Office of the Revenue Commissioners

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that they have a number of different arrangements for the engagement of solicitors and barristers. They have entered into contracts with six firms of external solicitors to provide legal services associated with debt collection and associated enforcement processes. These firms are engaged following a public procurement process which includes the publication of a request for tender document which invites firms that fulfil certain criteria to submit a tender for the supply of legal and debt collection services. This is followed by an evaluation of the tenders and an invitation to those deemed suitable, to attend for interview. The contract entered into by the successful firms usually extends for a period of six years. Contracts covering the period 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2015 have recently been agreed.

In addition, a number of solicitor firms provide Commissioner for Oaths services to Revenue. Five such firms are engaged at present with contracts valid until 30 June 2012. In this instance, a number of firms were invited to express an interest in providing the service based on the following criteria:

· Ability to attend at specified locations at specified times and dates each week.

· Ability to comply with urgent requests for attendance outside of the normal days of attendance.

· Ability to cover periods of absence of regular Commissioner i.e. holidays, sick leave or other work commitments.

· Production of a current tax clearance certificate.

Finally, it is open to practising Barristers to apply at any time for nomination as Counsel by the Revenue Solicitor. A form for this purpose is available on the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie

The Commission for Public Service Appointments

The Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) does not have legal panels for solicitors and barristers. However the CPSA has a contract to provide legal advice on the interpretation of the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004, other statutes, statutory instruments, regulations as applying to Public Service under the Commission's remit. The current contract for these legal services is with Matheson, Ormsby, Prentice (MOP). This Office complies with the Procurement Regulations as appropriate.

Office of Public Works

Legal advice required by the Office of Public Works (OPW) is supplied by the Chief State Solicitor's Office (CSSO). A Service Level Agreement (SLA) was entered into between OPW and CSSO in early 2005, as part of which a number of panels of external solicitors were created. Eight areas of specialised legal expertise were identified and a panel of solicitors created for each. The areas were:

Commercial Contracts

Compensation and Drainage Scheme

Construction Contracts

Copyright and Art Management

Employment Law

Health and Safety

National and EU Procurement

Planning and Development.

The process for getting on the panels involved a series of interviews conducted by the Chief State Solicitor's Office. Firms were judged in eight fields of expertise and awarded marks according to their knowledge and experience of the area, commitment to service, backup personnel, continuous professional development, proactive approach to dealing with CSSO and OPW and approach to minimisation of costs. A review of the SLA is planned and, as part of the process, the panels will be reviewed.

The State Laboratory, Valuation Office, and the Public Appointments Service do not have any such panels.