Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

As part of our savings, we introduced a 50% cut across all these areas. The point here is that many offices serve Departments and Ministers in respect of dealing with the media and public affairs, etc., who are themselves career civil servants; not all of them are brought in but some are and it is a matter of preference for Ministers who may have built up a relationship with people in this area over a period of time and who particularly suit their way of working. The general point to be made, however, is that this area, like every other, must be watched very closely to ensure that the benefits one would expect for the resources applied emanate and that it is run in a proper and professional way.

Regarding the idea of establishing an omnibus Government relations agency, for many Departments a certain expertise and acquaintance with the issues of the day is required. For example, the Department of Finance would be very different in terms of the needs of media and others compared to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism or another Department. In many cases, there are people who are of the Department who work either in a primary position or in supplementary positions around the person engaged as a press officer for that purpose and without whom the efficiency and efficacy of the office would be compromised. Taking account of all that, in terms of achieving savings, would one get the service required? It could be argued that we would not. There are some specialist areas that require a specialist knowledge and an ability to come back with information quickly to people.

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