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

-----the Transport 21 campaign and the e-voting campaign, all of which were approved by a previous Government. I note from the Deputy's comments that he does not have a difficulty with officeholders appearing in advertorials. This, indeed, was done in the NDP advertorials - in fact much more frequently than any of these advertorials. The complaint seems to be that some of the content - some of the advertorials - included people photographed who were not holders of office. This has all been done at arm's length. As I have said before and will say again, neither I, none of my advisers, none of the Civil Service staff has a role in this. It was deliberately done at arm's length. This is a Civil Service unit headed by a public servant. The ads are put in on behalf of Government and it is done on behalf of Government in accordance with Civil Service principles. I do not have any details or information about when or where ads or advertorials are placed, nor do I seek them.

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