Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The unit does not cover the provincial newspapers or the local radio stations, other than the Dublin stations.

Deputy Morgan asked a fair question. There are two advantages to the work of the unit. The press offices in the Departments and a wide range of public and civil servants get information sheets outlining the main issues on the news early in the morning and again during the day. The information sheets refer to issues which are relevant to individual Departments and may need to be followed up, as well as issues from newspapers which may need to be examined. This information is not just sent to the press office. I think there are several hundred civil servants on the list of people to whom it is sent. Ministers and Ministers of State comprise 30 of the people on the list. The people who receive the information are forewarned about various issues. The information sheets give a good summary of matters of general interest throughout the newspapers. They do not refer just to the headlines and the editorial comments, but other issues in the newspapers. In each case, they just give the headline — they do not put a political slant on it or make a comment about it.

Until the communications unit was established, a Department had to use an outside company when it wanted a tape of an interview or a feature. The Departments had contracts with outside companies which were providing information of this nature, which was very costly. At least four or five companies were feeding off the various Departments. There was duplication of tapes and documents on many occasions. It was decided a decade ago to establish a centralised unit, by seconding people from Departments on a rotational basis, to do a far more efficient job. If one compares the cost now with the cost at the time when there were far fewer radios, I would say they have probably saved their salaries by multiples. It is a question of quick communications. The radio is a means of knowing what is happening quickly. However, hundreds of officials do not have their radios on all day and cannot be informed in the same way as somebody in a party press office.

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