Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 124: To ask the Taoiseach the number, rank and pay of all civil servants in his Department and ministerial staff, personally appointed by him or otherwise, who are engaged in media monitoring; the nature of the work done; the persons who the information is circulated to or the people who have access to this information; the cost of this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33514/07]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not personally appoint staff to the media monitoring unit. There are currently four Executive Officers and one Clerical Officer working in the Communications Unit. It has a vacancy at EO level. The staff are established civil servants, four of whom are on secondment from other Departments. The total projected cost of the Communications Unit for 2007 is €338,607, with €123,464 being a direct cost to my Department. The pay scales for the Unit's staff are those applicable throughout the Civil Service for serving EOs and COs. The current scale ranges from €29,093 to €50,510 for EOs and from €23,221 to €38,469 for COs.

The Unit is manned for 18 hours each day, by means of a flexible rota of three working shifts and the staff are accordingly paid a shift allowance of 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.