Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In late 2017, the Taoiseach stated his marketing unit was tendering for research of public attitudes to State communication. He assured the House that all parties would be consulted before it went ahead and apologised for his office seeking to poll only general election voters, thereby excluding younger people and those without Irish or UK citizenship. There was no consultation, however. In early 2018, the Taoiseach informed the House that the tender had been awarded to a company and that he would ensure that other parties were consulted on the survey contents. Again, there was no consultation. When he eventually agreed to close the marketing unit, he told the House that because the contract had been awarded, the survey would proceed in any event and there would be consultations on revised survey content. Once again, there was no consultation. The reason the question keeps arising is there is no clarity on what happened to the contract, whether the money was retained by the Department of the Taoiseach or whether it has been entirely abandoned.

Who paid for the glossy broadband brochures issued last week? How much did they cost? I was amazed those brochures were put together in the absence of any contract being signed. Today, the Taoiseach said it would be September or October before a contract on broadband would be signed yet glossy brochures have been sent to every Deputy and probably to every public representative by the Government telling us how much will be done this year and next year, notwithstanding the fact nothing was done for seven years with regard to this contract. How do brochures get financed and published by the Government in advance of contracts being signed? It reduces the Government's leverage when negotiating contracts. The €5 million spend on this is extraordinary. We are being treated to launch after launch and, unfortunately, very little delivery on a lot of issues.

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