Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That figure of €76,000 is staggering and, as the Minister said, it does not include costs associated with Cruinniú na nÓg. I have no doubt the figure for promotion by the Department using social media will exceed €100,000. It goes without saying that social media has an important role to play in highlighting the cultural, creative and artistic heritage activities taking place throughout the country. We all know and accept that. There has, however, been controversy regarding how much the Department is spending on social media, particularly during the first year of the Creative Ireland programme. I have been at the roadshows, which place great emphasis on media, digital media and filming. I question that.

I ask the Minister to give us a breakdown of the spending and to what exactly what it relates. I have received information in respect of spending through a request under the Freedom of Information Act, and the table provided to me shows that, from January to July 2019, bigO media provided social media services and was paid an average of more than €6,000 per month. Thereafter, TWB provided social media services to the Department and was paid an average of more than €8,000 per month. The Minister can correct me if I am wrong, but these payments seem to be for the operation of the Department's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Do these costs include the promotion of social media content?

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