Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 4: To ask the Taoiseach if he plans to retain the communications unit in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17132/08]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 5: To ask the Taoiseach if he plans to make changes to the role or functions of the communications unit within his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19442/08]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 6: To ask the Taoiseach if he plans to make savings in relation to the communications unit in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20933/08]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together.

The communications unit will be retained in my Department as it provides a valuable media information service to Government Ministers and their Departments. It furnishes news updates and transcripts which ensure that Departments are kept informed in a fast and efficient manner of any relevant news developments. In this way, Departments are able to provide a better service to the public. The work of the unit is under continual review in terms of its efficiency and the timely provision of service. As a result of a recent audit of its work, it has been decided to digitally upgrade its manual recording equipment. When fully implemented, this change will improve the service provided by the unit and should result in cost savings both in my Department and across other Departments.

The communications unit works an 18 hour day based on a flexible rota of three working shifts. The unit is staffed by six established civil servants, five of whom are on secondment from other Departments. The work of the unit means Departments have reduced their use of external companies and ensures that they no longer duplicate work such as transcripts and tapes.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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We used to direct these questions to the Taoiseach's predecessor and it was very difficult to get an answer from him in a number of respects. The previous Taoiseach used to say the purpose of the communications unit was to monitor political events and make this information available to Ministers. However, through other questions Deputy Varadkar determined the cost of each Department's monitoring of newsworthy events and following politics in general and there is a serious amount of duplication. Was the communications unit included in the efficiency audit of the Taoiseach's Department? If it is doing the job it is supposed to do, why are there similar tracking systems in each State Department and, possibly, for every Minister of State? Is a serious amount of money being wasted if the Taoiseach's Department has this communications unit working efficiently and can relay to other Ministers what it has monitored and at the same time those Ministers' Departments are spending public money doing the same thing? If we are in the business of cutting back in the interests of efficiency, can I take it there will be no further tracking systems in each individual Department and the communications unit of the Department of the Taoiseach will supply all the necessary information to Ministers to keep them briefed so that in their busy schedules they will know what the public is saying about them?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I think the Deputy is referring to the fact there are press offices in every Department. This is not solely about listening to the radio——

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I know that, but they are tracking the news.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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——or looking at the television. It is about a communications unit in the Department of the Taoiseach communicating with the existing press offices, which are part of every Department of State and are necessary in the modern age. Given the number of outlets and queries, one could not provide an efficient service if one did not have some dedicated staff for that purpose and they are kept very busy. Quite apart from efforts that might be made by Ministers to communicate what they are doing or by Departments to communicate decisions, public policy issues or issues of important public information, the traffic coming from outside into the Departments, involving queries on this, that and the other, on each and every issue that may be relevant, irrelevant or even non-existent, that must be chased up to satisfy the insatiable appetite of some media outlets requires people to be available to do that work. Some of it is productive and one would hope that somewhat fewer queries would arise, but that is the modern world in which we live. To have only one communications unit for the entire Government would be an inefficient way of dealing with the situation.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the function of the communications unit within the Taoiseach's Department and I know that Ministers have their own press personnel in their Departments, that is understood. However, let us take the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, sitting beside the Taoiseach, as an example. How does the system operate in terms of supplying his press office with cuttings about transport issues, whether local, national or international, which might be relevant to his work? Does that come through the communications unit of the Taoiseach's Department, or is a contract given to a clippings service which sends the material to his press office? It appears that the high spend emanates from the collection of this information. Does the communications unit have the capacity to provide that service or does it just listen to radio stations throughout the country and report on what is broadcast?

I understand that every Minister has a press office and a press unit, but I am asking about the press cuttings relevant to each individual Minister's activities. Who supplies the clipping service? Are there different contracts involved or where do the clippings come from?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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They are dealt with in the press offices of individual Departments as part of their overall work. As Deputy Kenny knows as a former office holder, the work of the press office is to deal with press queries and to provide whatever information the Minister or his office is seeking. One needs people in situ in each Department who are acquainted with how the Department operates, who the relevant personnel are and who can provide assistance in respect of finding answers that people wanted 20 minutes before they even phoned. That can only be done on a practical level within the Departments.

The important point is that the communications unit furnishes news updates and transcripts which ensure that Departments are kept informed in a fast and efficient manner. As the Deputy knows from his own position, the level of news and media queries has mushroomed out of all proportion to what it was even ten years ago.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance announced yesterday that there would be a 50% reduction in expenditure on the whole public relations area for the Government. Will that 50% reduction apply to the communications unit?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The communications unit is not a public relations body, it is simply an internal arrangement for transmitting information across Departments from within the internal workings of the Government. As the Deputy knows, the question of public relations concerns outside advice being obtained from external companies for the purpose of communicating various initiatives at Government level or within Departments. They are the arrangements to which the subheads refer.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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In reply to Deputy Kenny, the Taoiseach said that the time of the communications unit is taken up with answering media queries and that there is an increased workload because of the increase in the volume of media queries. That sounds to me like public relations work.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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No.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I thought that was what the communications unit was doing.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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No, it provides information across Departments. As a former incumbent in an office of State, the Deputy is aware that the press office deals with most of the requirements of any Department. There are occasions when people require outside communications companies to assist them. Personally, I have not used such companies much, but arrangements have been made in the past when there was a need to communicate public information or to ensure that initiatives were brought to the public's attention. In some instances, it was a case of organising campaigns to make sure people were aware of their entitlements. All this work is done internally, in the main, but on some occasions outside help is required and obtained. It was in respect of that aspect of public relations that the Minister for Finance was referring.