Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Question 112: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the amount spent by his Department on legal advice in relation to the export credit insurance scheme from 2000 to date in 2010; if he will provide for an annual breakdown in tabular form. [21941/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The table below sets out the amount spent on legal advice in relation to export credit insurance from 2000 to 2010. This predominantly relates to issues arising from the scheme operated by this Department for several decades but which ceased operation in 1998. Part of the 2010 payment (€2,276.61) relates to work on the assessment of a possible reintroduction of State-supported Export Credit Insurance. The fees incurred in the years 2000 – 2003 related primarily to a major legal action involving the Department at that time. The expenses incurred since then relate primarily to legal work involved in the recovery of debt on old policies, which had previously been considered irrecoverable. However as a result of the Department's work in pursuing these cases in recent years, a total of €6.6m has been recovered for the State to date.