Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First of all, it was a whole-of-government approach. The Office of Government Procurement runs a procurement process for media buying and contracts are put in place from which Departments and Government offices can draw down. When the Office of Government Procurement runs various campaign advertisements, the Department of the Taoiseach liaises closely with it on all matters relating to public procurement. It has procedures in place. It monitors all areas of expenditure.

On the question the Deputy asked, there were about 68 separate public information-campaigns in 2021 under the Covid heading, with campaigns using a combination of national and regional press, national and local radio, digital display, social media, television and online video. Campaigns provided, as the Deputy knows, information on public health measures that were in place at different stages of the pandemic. In addition, a wide range of business, social welfare and community supports had to be advertised and communicated. There were also targeted initiatives such as the #Antiviral campaign, which was a Covid-19 communications campaign that was designed by and for young people, allowing them to share their experiences of the pandemic while reinforcing key public-health guidance. There was also the RSVP campaign, which we used more recently. It encouraged people to be risk aware and assisted them in assessing the relevant riskiness of activities, and it supported them to take steps to mitigate the risk of contracting and transmitting Covid.

The total Covid spend in 2021 was €12.1 million. The breakdown shows, more or less, an even split across national and regional media outlets. The Department will continue to co-ordinate this throughout 2022. As I said, the oversight is provided by the Office of Government Procurement.