Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It seems that the Taoiseach and his Government want to believe their own propaganda, spun through the strategic communications unit. It may come as a surprise to the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach to learn that people view the new unit as nothing more than a vanity project for the Government and its Ministers. We now know that the unit comes at a substantial cost to the taxpayer. Whereas we were led to believe there would be no cost to the Exchequer, in 2018 alone it will cost approximately €5 million to run the unit. Surely, the competent and experienced civil servants working in it would be better employed elsewhere, rather than acting as the Government's cheerleaders.

The remit of the strategic communications unit when it was established was to place citizens at the centre of its work and increase efficiencies across the public sector when dealing with members of the public. It was not terribly efficient to establish a communications unit when one was already in place, namely, the Government Information Service. The new unit is engaged in spinning issues, rather than finding solutions. Instead of being concerned with image, perhaps the Taoiseach might spend time sorting out everyday problems facing citizens. The Tánaiste and the Taoiseach have been spinning and their strategic communications unit has run its course. It is time to call a halt to it. I call on the Government to end this farce once and for all.

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