Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 405: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide details for the years 2006 to 2011, 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 not, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30972/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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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 the Chief State Solicitor's Office. 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 has sought and paid for legal advice and services additional to those provided centrally by the Attorney General and the Chief State Solicitor. As the Deputy will also be aware, the subject matter of the advice, and the advice itself, represent privileged information.

I regret to inform the Deputy that the information sought by her is not retained in a fashion which would permit ready extraction. The level and amount of detail in her request would necessitate the search of a voluminous quantity of files across the entire Department. This would require the expenditure of a completely disproportionate amount of staff time at inordinate cost to my Department at a time of reducing resources. I have no responsibility for the nature and/or subject matter of legal advice procured by State agencies as these are matters of day to day administration for the agencies concerned for which they are wholly responsible and accountable.