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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together. A unified Government identity has been developed and adopted by Departments as part of the reform programme for Government communications.

A unified identity replaces a fragmented and expensive system that saw Departments and Government agencies use, and communicate through, a multiplicity of identities, logos and brands, resulting in confusion, a lack of clarity for citizens and greater expense. The unified identity makes it easier for citizens to understand and recognise when a Government body is communicating with them and when projects and initiatives are funded by Government as opposed to the private sector or NGOs.

The experience of governments internationally and the research done in other jurisdictions, notably in the Netherlands, confirm the confusion and lack of clarity resulting from a fragmented approach.

The Dutch experience and that of the United Kingdom and others is that a unified, consistent identifiable identity ensures greater clarity on the role and place of Government in society for citizens and in Government communications.

All Departments have been supplied with the logos, templates and guidelines necessary to apply the identity and this application is well under way in all Departments. This is evident in the use of the Government of Ireland identity at Government events, press conferences and at public events, conferences etc., where Departments have a presence.

The unified identity has also been applied at departmental level - from departmental logos through to a consistent approach to the design of communications campaigns, reports, online activity and identifying all Government communications campaigns as being very clearly initiatives of the Government of Ireland.

An example of how this unified identity provides a clear, identifiable presence for the citizen was at the recent National Ploughing Championships, where Government representation was immediately and clearly identifiable as a result of all Departments using the unified identity in the design of their units.

In alignment with the recommendations from the Secretary General's report, the reformed Government Information Service, GIS, is responsible for the implementation of the single Government identity.

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