Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I reiterate that it is not a committee, but a branch of the Government secretariat that is responsible for considering matters of this nature when they are brought to its attention. The new rules in the public relations area state that when a level of direct service is provided for a Minister or a Minister suggests a name to be included in the tender, any questions relating to the retention of consultants generally need to be addressed in that area. Such questions are referred to the Department of Finance. If the Minister makes a recommendation in respect of a matter in the PR area, the Government secretariat is asked to give its advice on the issue. No new contracts have been drawn up in the past year — there are existing contracts in Departments — and therefore no contract has been brought to the attention of the Government secretariat by a Secretary General of a Department.

Deputy Rabbitte asked a question about the issue of advertising. I do not think advertising is dealt with in this context. There are general rules stating that people should not be involved in advertising, except when it is appropriate. I do not think the rules were broken in the case mentioned by the Deputy. Ministers should generally avoid using themselves in the advertising of their Departments or agencies. I have answered that before and I stay consistent with my answer. People should avoid that. It is not necessary and is not something people should do.

The additional procedures apply particularly in the PR or communications area where there is a significant element of a direct service or where the Minister suggests the name of a person or enterprise for a consultancy or a contract. It is a broad area and in these circumstances the Secretary General of the relevant Department is required to inform the Secretary General to the Government who will arrange, if necessary, for the Government secretariat to inquire about aspects of the proposed procurement that it considers necessary. Arising from this the Secretary General will make recommendations to me as to whether any special conditions should be observed in the procurement process. While I do not want to go back over the matter again, as I recall, the Department of Finance and the OPW have also changed the guidelines to take account of the changes that arose out of the Quigley report last year.

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