A new system of tendering for legal services for all public bodies has been announced by Minister of State at the Department of Finance Simon Harris.

As Minister with special responsibility for public procurement, Mr Harris has launched a public tendering competition designed to make it easier for smaller legal firms to tender for public work.

Mr Harris said the new system would involve the breaking up of large contracts into smaller lots in order to encourage participation in procurement from small- and medium-sized legal firms.

“This is particularly important given an estimated value of [these services of] approximately €100 million over the next four years.

“This approach aims to match public sector needs to the capacity and capability of the market place,” Mr Harris said.

He said the system would involve the division of contracts into eleven lots, with each lot representing a specific legal practice area.

“The lotting strategy has been designed to allow firms with specific expertise in practice areas to compete on a lot by lot basis,” Mr Harris said.

Market engagement

Mr Harris said that, in advance of publishing this tender, the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) had undertaken extensive market engagement with the legal industry.

“This pre-tender engagement helped to shape the structure and inform the scope of the competition.

“Law firms of all sizes were encouraged to share their experiences of previous public sector procurement competitions, and their views on barriers to competition and participation.”

He said that the OGP had received feedback from a broad range of firms with an interest in delivering legal services to the public sector.

Further details are available on the official website and the closing date for receipt of tenders is November 23rd.