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

The strategic communications unit operates at arm's length from me and the rest of the Government. It is a Civil Service-staffed entity which operates at arm's length. It does so in accordance with the Civil Service code. That is the case. On the Deputy's assertion that it has been the most expensive public information campaign run by a Government, that is absolutely not the case. From the records I have, the most expensive one was run by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party coalition, the "Change" campaign which dealt with the Government's climate change agenda. It cost €15 million. The public relations campaign for Transport 21, again when the Deputy was a member of the Government, cost €3 million. This campaign will cost approximately €1.5 million, half the cost of the Transport 21 campaign and one tenth of the cost of the "Change" campaign.

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