Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide details on the level of expenditure being incurred on the part of the State in hiring solicitors and barristers to undertake State agency work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40179/12]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Attorney General's Office and the Chief State Solicitor's Office engage external counsel to assist in their legal work on behalf of Government Departments. The Chief State Solicitor's Office sometimes engages external solicitor firms to assist with court cases outside the Dublin area.

The total cost of hiring solicitors and barristers to undertake work for these Offices was €10.415 million in 2011 and was €4.485 million in the first six months of 2012. Fees paid to barristers amounted to €10.268 million in 2011 and to €4.402 million in the first six months of 2012. Fees paid to external solicitors amounted to €0.147 million in 2011 and to €0.083 million in the first six months of 2012.

The total cost of hiring solicitors and barristers to undertake work for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was €19.803 million in 2011 and was €9.648 million in the first six months of 2012.

Fees paid to barristers who prosecute cases on behalf of the DPP amounted to €13.501 million in 2011 and to €6.474 million in the first six months of 2012. Fees paid in respect of the local State Solicitor Service amounted to €6.302 million in 2011 and €3.174 million in the first six months of 2012.