Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 616: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform in each of the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 the arrangements entered into by his Department for the obtaining of advice from a firm of solicitors and or from senior or junior counsel; in each case the subject matter in respect of which advices were sought, the name of the solicitors firm and or barristers concerned and the fees paid; the nature of the work concerned, that is, whether it involved the drafting of legislation or the obtaining of legal advices; whether in each case the matter concerned was advertised for tender and where not, why not. [1625/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 617: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform in respect of each of the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 if he will give details of the number of court cases initiated in each year in which he or his predecessor was named as a defendant; the number of such cases in each year initiated in the District Court, Circuit Court or High Court; the nature of the proceedings taken, for example, the number of cases in which damages were claimed; judicial review was sought of decisions made or were constitutional challenges and so on; whether in all such cases legal representation was provided by the Chief State Solicitor's Office and if not, by whom; if he will detail the legal costs incurred by his Department in each of the said years in respect of any such litigation and to provide a breakdown of same including details of fees paid to solicitors and barristers; to detail the number of cases in each of the aforesaid years that were lost and in respect of which he or the State was ordered to pay the plaintiff's costs and the amount of costs so paid in each of the aforesaid years. [1640/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 618: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform with regard to legal services used by his Department, any Body under the aegis of his Department and any State agency for which he is responsible; if he will give details of the legal services of which there has been competitive tendering in each of the years 2008, 2009 and 2010; the legal firm in each case that furnished advice with regard to any such tendering and assisted in the preparation of tender documents and in each case to detail the solicitors firm who succeeded in each tendering process, the nature of the work for which each firm successfully tendered and the fees paid for any such advice or assistance to each firm for work for which it tendered. [1655/11]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 616 to 618, inclusive, together.

I can inform the Deputy that, for the most part, the legal services sought by my Department are coordinated and paid for by the Office of the Attorney General and Office of the Chief State Solicitor. These services are typically sought in the context of the preparation of legislation, legal advice in respect of policy issues and in the management of litigation including judicial reviews. In a number of instances, my Department and its associated bodies, in accordance with normal procurement procedures, have sought and paid for legal advice and services additional to those provided for centrally by the Attorney General and the Chief State Solicitor. It is not feasible to extract the enormous volume of detailed information sought by the Deputy without a hugely disproportionate use of resources in gathering and compiling the list of payments, court cases initiated and other details requested.