Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am advised by my Department that the expenditure on social media and digital advertising engaged in by my Department to date in 2019 is €79,673, which relates primarily to the Creative Ireland programme, in addition to spending by Culture Ireland. This figure does not include the social media costs for the promotion of Cruinniú na nÓg, for which a detailed breakdown is not yet available. The Creative Ireland programme, with which Deputy Smyth is familiar, is a culture-based programme designed to promote individual, community and national well-being. The vision of the programme is that every person in Ireland should have the opportunity to realise his or her full creative potential. As such, a comprehensive and multi-platform information and citizen engagement campaign is in place to build awareness and understanding of the programme's aims and objectives. These are to enable the creative potential of every child; enable creativity in every community; invest in our creative and cultural infrastructure; and develop Ireland as a centre of creative excellence and as a creative and cultural nation. We also want to encourage participation in cultural and creative activities, with a particular focus on Cruinniú na nÓg, a festival for children and young people, which was held in June this year, as well as to support, enable and achieve maximum citizen engagement. To do this, it is essential for the programme to use a diverse range of communication channels and platforms to inform, encourage and promote participation in creative activities, as these are vital to our individual and societal well-being.

Expenditure in 2019 to date included €76,506 for social media content, including research, image sourcing, short films and scheduling of social media posts. Under Global Ireland 2025, the Government's strategy to increase the impact of Ireland's global footprint, a conference was organised by Culture Ireland on 24 January 2019 to explore how best to promote Ireland's culture worldwide.

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