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

There will be no political advertising and no promotion of political parties. The Civil Service and public sector code will continue to apply in that regard.

On the issue of costings, I cannot explain it any better. Cost-neutral is not the same as it will cost nothing. The money is being found within my Department and my departmental budget is, in fact, being reduced. The unit will actually save money over time, just as similar units did in other jurisdictions. Looking at the plethora of logos, communications functions, websites and press functions across Departments and agencies, any rational person will see that co-ordinating and pulling all of this activity together over time will actually save a substantial amount of money for the taxpayer.

On the issue of political advisers, they are departmental employees and it is normal for them to engage with civil servants all the time. They will continue to do so, but there will certainly be no engagement with party officials or party press officers.

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