Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

calls for:- the immediate disbandment of the Strategic Communications Unit (SCU);

- An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD, and the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach to appear before the Committee of Public Accounts at the earliest possible date to account for the spending of public moneys by the SCU; and

- the establishment of an independent panel, appointed by the Oireachtas, to examine the most effective way of operating Government communications to ensure value for money and freedom from political interference.

Táim ag roinnt mo chuid ama le mo chuid chomhgleacaithe. Cuirim fáilte roimh an rún seo agus molaim é don Teach. The motion before us from Sinn Féin is short and straightforward. It calls for the Government spin unit, the strategic communications unit, SCU, to be disbanded. It calls for the Taoiseach, Martin Fraser, the head of the strategic communications unit, John Concannon, and any other relevant individuals to appear before the Committee of Public Accountsto answer questions and account for the spending of public money on what is a vanity project. It calls also for an independent panel to examine and recommend the best method of communicating the work of Government that is above politics and based on value for money.

At its core, the motion is about accountability. Sinn Féin stands for accountability, something that is sorely lacking in this State, but do not just take my word for it. Let us look at some of the facts and what we have come to learn about the SCU to date. The Taoiseach stated in this House when he first revealed the Government’s plans to establish the SCU that the unit will be cost neutral to the Exchequer. These were the bold claims made by the Taoiseach before it turned out that, in fact, the unit would cost some €5 million this year and every other year. Other claims were then made about the wholesome and ethical nature of the unit and they have proven to be false.

Assurances were given that the SCU would be completely free from any and all Government influence, yet media reports over recent weeks have poured cold water on that and disproven it robustly. I refer to the work that was done by a number of journalists, including Ellen Coyne and Hugh O’Connell, who together have done much to expose and unearth the truth about that. It is thanks to them that a myriad of information has now come to light that has revealed that this is a unit which, it turns out, is anything but wholesome or ethical.

In the case of Hugh O’Connell, his pursuits led to the eventual release of documents obtained via freedom of information requests which revealed details of discussions between the Taoiseach and his advisers about the establishment of the strategic communications unit. These documents have shown that the Taoiseach was not only instrumental in setting up the unit but was also involved in directing the unit's activity. The once secret documents also reveal emails which forewarned of the creation of a “vanity project” as well as the need for access to Government decision makers by the SCU.

Today we learn from an article by Juno McEnroe in the Irish Examinerthat a parliamentary question tabled by my party colleague, Deputy Maurice Quinlivan, to the then Tánaiste, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, was drafted almost word for word by the strategic communication unit. Indeed, the unit asked that that be the version tabled on the floor of the House. That is outrageous. So much for the assurance from the Taoiseach and from other members of the Cabinet that his spin unit was to be free from interference and would be at arm’s length from Ministers. How can it be at arm's length from Ministers when it is drafting the parliamentary responses to questions Members of this House are putting to Ministers?

Similarly, and equally as worrying, is the exposé by Ellen Coyne recently published in the Ireland edition of The Times, which discovered that with Ireland 2040, as well as with similar advertising campaigns such as Creative Ireland, regional newspapers were specifically instructed to make publicly funded advertisements that promoted not just the Government but Fine Gael election candidates as well to look like organic, independent news stories. By deploying such a tactic, it was clear that those responsible sought to exploit a vulnerable newspaper industry which today, more than ever, is so dependent on such advertising revenue streams for their very survival.

Not only do these actions amount to an abuse of power, they raise a number of serious questions about the behaviour of those involved. It represents a shameful misuse of the public purse because, notwithstanding all the other arguments which may be made, it is abhorrent to think that taxpayers’ money, which could have been spent on schools, hospitals and public housing, was instead used to promote a political party and its agenda. That is wrong, and here today we are calling it out for what it is, namely, a disgusting abuse of power by a Government whose sole interest is not that of ordinary people but of self preservation and promotion. There is an addiction to spin at the heart of the Varadkar Government. The revelations we heard at the weekend about an attempt to establish a campaign based on Garda figures the Central Statistics Office, CSO, refused to stand over is just the latest example of that.

Five million euro is a lot of money, and Sinn Féin believes that this money could have been put to better use. It could fund 1,000 extra community employment places. It could have reversed the cuts made some years ago to small schools. It could introduce a living wage across the Civil Service. That is what annoys and angers people. They know that money spent on the Leo spin unit is money out of their pockets and money that could be and should have been put into public services. That is the reason, in our motion today, we are calling on the Taoiseach and other public figures to appear before the Committee of Public Accounts. That is needed to show that they are not above accountability, and that they must be accountable to this House and to the committees of this Parliament.

The final part of our motion recognises that the Government has a right to communicate with the people. We are proposing, therefore, the establishment of an independent panel, appointed by the Oireachtas, to examine the most effective way of operating Government communications to ensure value for money and freedom from political interference.

At the heart of our motion before the House today is the call for the Government’s strategic communications unit to be disbanded, with immediate effect. Let us put an end to what has been a shameful, callous and deceitful propaganda project. I am calling on all sides to accept this motion so that we may move on and restore some of the faith which has been lost in politics over this botched Fine Gael experiment in self-promotion and deal with the real issues such as health, housing and homelessness, which continue to affect the lives of those we represent, and no spin unit will be able to hide the consequences of such.

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