Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am aware of the function of the communications unit within the Taoiseach's Department and I know that Ministers have their own press personnel in their Departments, that is understood. However, let us take the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, sitting beside the Taoiseach, as an example. How does the system operate in terms of supplying his press office with cuttings about transport issues, whether local, national or international, which might be relevant to his work? Does that come through the communications unit of the Taoiseach's Department, or is a contract given to a clippings service which sends the material to his press office? It appears that the high spend emanates from the collection of this information. Does the communications unit have the capacity to provide that service or does it just listen to radio stations throughout the country and report on what is broadcast?

I understand that every Minister has a press office and a press unit, but I am asking about the press cuttings relevant to each individual Minister's activities. Who supplies the clipping service? Are there different contracts involved or where do the clippings come from?

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