Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

All non-political data could not be made available across Departments. The Deputy cannot be serious.

The officials of the communications unit are part of the Civil Service structure and are answerable in the normal course to the Secretary General of the Department. They work on a strictly non-political basis. The unit deals only with the Government Press Office and with press officers in the various Departments on matters of a non-political nature. The officials are subject to all the conventions which apply to civil servants regarding political impartiality. The unit covers those conventions, probably more scrupulously than any other area of the Civil Service, because it deals with media issues.

The data prepared by the unit is made available. The information provided is simply a synopsis of daily news bulletins and news stories from radio stations. It can save a substantial amount of money when, for example, interviews are being checked. That is its benefit. It can provide information quickly to Departments so they can deal with issues, whether a news story is a good or tragic one. The unit keeps the entire system up to date on what is happening outside. Civil servants at all levels receive information and can act on it. Were it not for the unit, civil servants might not be aware of what is happening outside their Departments in the course of a normal day.

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