Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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8. To ask the Taoiseach the staffing and media monitoring in the Government Information Service unit; and his plans for changes. [32105/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Government Information Service is comprised of the Government press secretary; the deputy Government press secretary; the assistant Government press secretary, which position is currently vacant; two assistant principal officers, one of whom is assigned to MerrionStreet.ie; four press officers at higher executive officer level, two of which positions are currently vacant; three communications and media assistants at executive officer equivalent grade assigned to MerrionStreet.ie, all of which positions are currently vacant, and one clerical officer. All relevant recruitment processes are being finalised and temporary arrangements are in place to cover the vacancies detailed above.

While I have not, as yet, made any decision on changing the resourcing or structure of the Government Information Service, I am giving thought to how Government might best communicate its initiatives, work and strategic policy priorities to the public and relevant stakeholders. I intend to establish a small unit in my Department to focus on strategic communications across Government. This unit will complement, not replace, the existing arrangements in Departments and agencies for dealing with press, media and communications. The precise mandate and other arrangements for the operation of the new unit will be worked out over the coming weeks.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Taoiseach listed a number of vacancies in his reply. There are vacancies for an assistant Government press secretary, two of four press officer positions and three executive officer equivalents in the communications and media assistant area. Is it the Taoiseach's intention to fill all of these, will that be done in the normal way through the Civil Service recruitment process or will specialists be brought in? The Taoiseach said he wanted to restructure the Government Information Service. What does he have in mind in particular? Will the new unit with responsibility for strategic communications across Government be housed within the Government Information Service and serve under the head of that service? Is that how it is to work? Is it a link between press officers in Departments to provide better information? How is it to work?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I did not realise there were quite so many vacancies until I read out the reply. I imagine some are Civil Service vacancies, which will be filled in the normal way should the Secretary General determine they remain necessary. Political appointments such as that of the assistant Government press secretary simply have not been made yet and probably will not be until the autumn given that we are entering a relatively quiet period in terms of media.

The strategic communications unit will be separate. It will be a unit of the Department and not under the auspices of the Government Information Service. The Government Information Service will do what it does currently, namely, deal with the press on a regular basis, deal with protocol and deal with national commemorations. The strategic communications unit will be something new. It will try to pull together all of the communications that occur across Government. We have a lot of Departments and agencies and they are spending a great deal of taxpayers' money. They have an awful lot of staff. I do not believe an adequately coherent message is coming from Government. There is an opportunity to make savings in the total amount spent by Departments and agencies on communications and public relations and there is also an opportunity to present a much more coherent message to the public as to what the Government and its agencies are doing and what the public service is providing people with.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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It is news to all of us that there is to be a parallel information service in this strategic communications unit. From my experience in government and from what the Taoiseach has explained, the unit will replicate what the Government Information Service does. Is there a budget line for this? Has the Taoiseach envisaged its staffing component and at what level? He might provide us with an indication of that.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As this is the first time since the Taoiseach's appointment that the topic has been discussed, I wish the staff of the Government Information Service well. Given the emphasis the Taoiseach and his advisers place on photo opportunities and media management, their jobs will be quite difficult. The Taoiseach might explain why the summer economic statement is being delivered at a press conference instead of in the House. It is in order to deliver it in the House.

The Taoiseach needs to explain this strategic communications unit. I know he has covered it up by saying it will save money but it sounds very much to me like this is a political machine that is being put in at the heart of the Taoiseach's office to deliver a coherent political message on behalf of the Government. We need to be absolutely clear that existing-----

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Shane Ross monitoring unit.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government never co-ordinates Deputy Shane Ross with what it is doing itself, so the idea that this strategic communications unit will bring greater coherence to the Government message is not the issue. Fundamentally, it seems to me that we are getting a beefed-up political operation. It is a bit like the noted New Labour operative in the UK, Alastair-----

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Campbell.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----Campbell. I was watching the comedy "The Thick of It" recently. I hope the Taoiseach does not end up there in terms of that type of operation.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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He would be so lucky to have it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is, in terms of the comedy side of it. The point I am making is that the Taoiseach needs to be very clear as to what is envisaged, how it is going to work alongside the Government Information Service, and that it would not be not politicised and not be part of some political operation over the next 12 months.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I happen to think that a strategic communications unit might be a good idea, provided we know what strategy is involved and we have much more information on it instead of it just being dropped in, as it were, in one or two sentences. I would imagine that this could be a Tony Blair type machine, but it could equally be something that looks at the main strategic objectives of a Government. One would argue that, at this time, they have to include the delivery of the Good Friday Agreement, Brexit, a united Ireland and how one would get and win a referendum on unity.

That brings us to who it is we need to engage with. The Government needs to engage with people in the North. It is very important that there would be an ongoing engagement. Some parts of the North cannot even get RTE. The images coming out of the North during this 12 July period are very upsetting and offensive. I think they would be considered hate crimes in anyone's book. They are the work of a very small minority, however. The vast majority of the Orange celebrations will go on without any great disruption to people's lives. However, one asks if the Taoiseach has thought about engaging with people in the North through the media about Brexit.

The Government's position is wrong on Brexit. It wants a designated status for the North outside of the European Union when the only sensible position is to have a designated status for the North inside it. Would this strategic communications unit deal with that issue in the North and our friends in Britain and, of course, the big issue of a united Ireland? If the Taoiseach is serious about it, surely the strategic communications unit should be tasked with communicating the Government's position on that important issue.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The new unit does not exist yet. It probably will not be established until September but I am happy to give the House notice of it and any information I have on it now. It will be supplementary to and separate from the GIS because its role will be different and complementary. It will not be political. It will not be staffed by political appointees. People will be seconded from other parts of the Civil Service and public service. Its role principally will be to inform the public about what the Government is doing and explaining to the public, and more broadly, the actions of Government. For example, it will explain the budget. There will be a €58 billion spending package announced on budget day, but people have very little knowledge about and understanding of it. There is an opportunity to explain it a bit better. The unit will explain the capital plan when it is published and how that will impact on and benefit every community throughout the country. As another example, in a few weeks' time the new universal child care subsidy kicks in. This subsidy will be worth approximately €1,000 a year, or €20 a week, to families with children in child care. Every child between the age of six months and three years will benefit from this subsidy, but how many people know that this is going to happen in less than six weeks? We need to invest a lot more effort in explaining to the public some of these new initiatives that are being led and implemented by Government and how Government is working for them to make their lives better.