Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The truth is the concept was about co-ordinating communications across government in a professional manner to ensure money that is spent on communications gets good results. The truth is the Deputies speak about €5 million or €6 million but communications across the Government and its agencies costs in the region of €170 million per year, as the Deputy knows. There are approximately 750 people involved in that communication across multiple organisations, agencies, Departments and so on. The whole point of this was to spend some money to ensure we provided value for money and co-ordination in those efforts. The previous model had every Department and agency working independently of each other. This meant there was no consistent Government branding, leading to confusion among the public as to who was responsible for what. There was no means by which overarching Government activity cutting across a number of Departments could be communicated. There was no structure to share best practice or for professional development for those working in communications in order to enhance skills. I have been in a number of Departments now and I know this. Good public and civil servants are moved from one section to another, sometimes from finance to a press office, for example, without the necessary professional development and training. Their intellect helps them do it but it is hardly best practice.

The previous model resulted in duplication, confusion and lack of cross-governmental coherence. It did not deliver value for money for taxpayers in terms of what is being spent. The establishment of the SCU reflects international best practice and other governments have also looked at this problem, coming up with similar approaches to what we are now adopting. That is about ensuring we have cross-governmental co-ordination in communication. There is a professionalism that delivers results. In other established European democracies it is understood that it is wasteful for every department or state agency to develop its own brand and communications plan while doing its own professional development without any central cohesion. Whether they wish to admit it or not, all Deputies know the importance of good communication and each political party understands it.

The SCU is about supporting Departments and agencies in doing the best possible communications work, ensuring there is work going on across the Government with a common platform that each agency can contribute to in order to ensure a consistency of message. The remit of the SCU is approved by the Government and it includes the commitment to a government-wide capacity-building professional development programme for officials working in communications and a number of proposed cross-government priority campaigns. The way in which some Deputies are choosing to spin this, it is as if a communications unit that improves professional capacity across government is in some way trying to influence different Departments on behalf of the Department of the Taoiseach. It is absolute nonsense.

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