Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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354. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the level of pro bono work provided by legal, accountancy and consulting firms in the past 24 months to his Department; which of those firms have also been awarded State contracts by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4610/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Pro bono work has been provided by the following legal, accountancy and consulting firms for my Department as follows:-

1 January 2012 - 31 December 2013

The following of these firms was also awarded a contract by my Department during the period ¹ January 2012 – 31 December 2013.

In addition to the information above, I would also point out that the Company Law Review Group (the CLRG) advises me as Minister on changes required to company law with specific regard to promoting enterprise, facilitating commerce, simplifying legislation, enhancing corporate governance and encouraging commercial probity. The Group works on Work Programmes that are settled by me as Minister every second year, and the main area of the CLRG’s efforts over the last 12 years has been the overhaul of Irish company law, which has resulted in the Companies Bill 2012. The Chairperson and several of the members of the CLRG are either practising lawyers or accountants in legal or accounting firms. However, they do not represent their firms while on the CLRG – rather they are appointed either for their personal expertise or as a representative of their professional body. While the Chairperson is paid an annual fee, all other members give their time for free. Details of the membership of the CLRG are available on the Group’s website at www.clrg.org/About-Us/Members.