Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together.

Communications is an essential part of effectiveness of any modern organisation. That is particularly true of Departments and public service bodies in all countries, given the impact of their activities on the lives of citizens. That is why communications should be treated as a strategic, whole-of-government activity which should be conducted to the same level of professionalism as any other activity, such as human resource management or financial management.

Ireland should aspire to meeting best international practice and we are seeking to draw on the experience of other countries in this regard.

The new strategic communications unit aims to help achieve that over time. It will be integrated entirely within the Civil Service structures in my Department, with the director of the unit reporting to the Secretary General of the Department. Needless to say no political or party political work can be carried out by the unit.

A high-level working group, chaired by the Secretary General, will be established to ensure successful oversight and delivery of the work plan of the unit. Further cross-departmental oversight will be provided by the Civil Service management board.

The operating principles for the unit, as I mentioned, will ensure that it does not engage in any party political work.

The unit will convene briefings and consultations across Government, including with Ministers and with wider stakeholders, as appropriate. A network of communications professionals from across Government will be developed to share best practice and develop continuing professional development for the communication function.

The unit has commenced work but further organisational change will be required before it is fully operational.

The current staff of the unit is made up of six serving public and civil servants, assigned on secondment or through reallocation of internal resources within the Department of the Taoiseach. It is headed by a director, on secondment from a State agency, at assistant secretary level. The other five staff have been reassigned from within the Department.

Further staff will be recruited, including through the assignment of three media and communications assistants, who were already in the process of recruitment, to fill existing vacancies through an open competition run by the Public Appointments Service. Staffing decisions on the unit will be made by the Department’s senior management.

Every effort will be made to avoid duplication with existing functions, both within the Department and across the public service. Indeed, one of the principal purposes of this initiative is to reduce duplication and increase whole-of-Government co-ordination.

As well as increasing the effectiveness and quality of communications, this will also lead to greater value for money and reduced expenditure overall.

As an initial step in the modernisation of communications, my Department conducted some research on existing communications activities, including the range of campaigns, brands and channels of communication used by different agencies, which have built up over many years under successive governments. The results of that research will be used by Civil Service management to help frame the work plan for the new unit.

Of course, most of the existing communication activities are an essential part of the work of State agencies, in areas such as transport, tourism, trade and investment promotion, food, energy and public health. Nevertheless, there are significant opportunities for building the effectiveness of that existing capacity, as well as for rationalisation.

This will ensure that the new approach to strategic communications will be cost-neutral. In fact, it is likely to give rise to a significant increase in value for money and a reduction in overall expenditure over time.

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