Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 141: To ask the Taoiseach the number of people working in his Department's media monitoring unit; the cost of same; the rates of pay paid and to whom; the type of contract each individual is on; if they are civil servants, their rank and pay scale; the arrangements regarding rostering of staff; if any staff were on duty for the month of June 2007 and the issues reported by them and to whom; the persons to whom the staff of the unit report to; the issues reported on for the month of June 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26398/07]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are six staff working in the Communications Unit. All are established civil servants, five of whom are on secondment from other Departments. The total cost incurred by the Communications Unit to date in 2007 is €311,270, with €144,698 being a direct cost to the Department of the Taoiseach and €33,314 on average being borne by the five other Departments who have staff seconded to the Unit. The estimated total annual cost for the Communications Unit in 2007 is €373,524.

The staff in the Unit comprise five Executive Officers and one Clerical Officer. The pay scales are the same as those applicable throughout the Civil Service for serving Executive Officers and Clerical Officers. The current scale for Executive Officer and Clerical Officer in the Civil Service range from €29,093 to €47,980 and €24,302 to €38,469 respectively. Staff in the Unit work an 18 hour day, based on a flexible rota of three working shifts and are accordingly paid a shift allowance based on one sixth of their salary.

The Unit provides a media information service to Government Ministers and their Departments by furnishing news updates and transcripts. The staff in the Unit report directly to an Assistant Principal in the Government Information Service. All of the Communications Unit's staff were on duty during June 2007, providing news updates, synopsis of newspaper headlines and transcripts as required.