Mr. Seán Hogan:

I thank the Senator for his questions and the points he raised and I will try to deal with them as best I can. With regard to the single voice, the role I have stepped into is chairing the National Emergency Co-ordination Group, which involves leading the media. We work very closely with traditional media. Our approach facilitates the traditional media. By timing our meetings, we can get our message out and the media have been very good at capturing and picking up on the safety messages we want to disseminate.

I am not the only one involved. Images of a series of spokespersons will, hopefully, have been seen. Those include people from the transport sector, the ESB, the communications sector, the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána. The whole group is aligned around the message. That is part of how this system of public communication works.

Regarding politicisation, we live in a world where our mandate comes from the Taoiseach of the day. That has been the case since 2009 when the former Deputy, Mr. Brian Cowen, was Taoiseach. He was followed in that post by Deputy Enda Kenny and now we have the current Taoiseach. They give us our mandate and our co-ordination has been so successful because we have a strong mandate to do what we do. This ensures that all of 15 Departments are part of the effort and contribute at full tilt in doing what needs to be done. The political aspect is, therefore, very important. It is normal in our world for the Taoiseach, our Minister, as the lead Minister, and other Ministers to make statements at an early stage. Our role is to co-ordinate. Let us take severe weather events as an example. Those impact greatly on transport so we rely a great deal on our transport colleagues and their expertise. There are times, therefore, when it is appropriate for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, to comment on issues. It would be the same for the ESB in the context of power supply, which is always another major issue in these situations. It is generally in the early stages that statements are issued as a way of getting people’s attention focused on a major issue. That is how we have worked. It is a constant issue as to who takes the lead, how things are led and where the balance lies in making decisions. It is important that we as public servants do not become the story. We have a message to communicate but we are not the story. The National Emergency Co-ordination Group is not the story. We want to get people focused on the weather event. I certainly take that approach.

Another thing I will say about the political aspect is that the Taoiseach and various Ministers attend meetings of the National Emergency Co-ordination Group to see what is happening. There have been situations where we have been asked to brief the full Cabinet on various issues, as need be. There is a high degree of interaction. Media people from the various Departments also attend meetings of National Emergency Co-ordination Group. This means that when decisions are being made we do not have to go out of the room to discuss how messages are to be formulated. It is part of the formulation of the decision within the room. That is one of the strengths we have because it enables us to meet in an hour, cover our agenda, know what our decisions are going to be and what we are going to be stating outside.

In fairness to the media professionals in the room, they ask questions about what can be said on "RTE News: One O’Clock". I have experienced where such decisions occasionally need to be revised. It is very helpful for me, as an amateur working in the communications area, to have professionals observing and offering advice on how best to communicate the message. Does that deal with the question regarding the politicisation of communication?