Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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Question 96: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide details for the years 2006 to 2011, inclusive, of the arrangements that he, any body under his aegis or State agency for which he has responsibility entered into 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. [30969/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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My Department has a Legal Division, staffed by qualified legal professionals who provide legal advice on a wide range of international legal issues. Having such 'in-house' legal experts reduces the costs which would be incurred if the Department was to engage externally for similar services. The majority of other instances where legal advice and services have been required by my Department in the State during the period in question have been handled either by the Attorney General's Office or the Chief State Solicitor's Office, or have related to cases processed by the State Claims Agency. As the Deputy will be aware, Government Departments do not directly pay for the legal services provided by the Office of the Attorney General and or the Chief State Solicitor's Office or for advice from Counsel briefed by them.

Nevertheless, there are from time to time occasions where a need to engage external legal services in the State arises, where the necessary specialised expertise is not available within my Department and cannot be accessed from the AGO or the CSSO. In the period in question this occurred on three occasions, the details of which are included in the table below.

The Department's Missions abroad may have occasional requirements for legal services and these are sourced from local legal practitioners as and when required.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 97: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the annual cost of the licensed payroll system, CorePay, to his Department. [31058/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Core International license their CorePay payroll system by way of an annual maintenance and support charge on installed elements. For 2011 the charge is €20,728. New functionality has been implemented during 2011 for which additional licensing is required at a cost of €31,460. There will also be an associated additional support and maintenance charge of €3,680.