Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say that the Taoiseach earned a reputation for spin. During the last general election campaign, the current Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, was asked to define the Taoiseach in one word and he used the word "spin". Little did we know that a few months later, both he and the Taoiseach would be spinning around on a rotating Taoiseach deal. It is really important that we have transparency regarding how money is spent in the Department of the Taoiseach in this manner. During Covid, tens of thousands of euro was spent advertising a phase 4 reopening. Shortly afterwards, tens of thousands of euro were spent promoting a reclosing, a safe Christmas and a locking down so two separate and contradictory messages were being delivered in a short space of time.

In his first outing as Taoiseach, the Taoiseach spent about €100,000 per month on this. We know the Department of the Taoiseach spent over €1 million on online advertising in 2021. Can the Taoiseach give us some information on the wages earned in the press office in his Department, including the highest wage and the average wage? Are private public relations companies employed by his Department and, if so, how much are they being paid?

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