Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 297: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if agencies, boards, quangos or other bodies within the remit of his Department have carried out advertising campaigns during the course of 2010 to promote policies or programmes being implemented by those agencies or by his Department; the details of the campaign or relevant programme; the cost of advertising in publications, broadcast advertising, online advertising, outdoor advertising and other forms of advertising and consultancy or production costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3432/11]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 298: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform if he has carried out, during the course of 2010, advertising campaigns to promote any policies or programmes being implemented by his Department; the name of the campaign or relevant programme; the total cost of advertising in publications, broadcast advertising, outdoor advertising and consultancy or production costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3447/11]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 297 and 298 together.

I can inform the Deputy that my Department carried out advertising campaigns during the course of 2010 to promote policies within its area of responsibility. The relevant campaigns related to awareness raising on human trafficking, awareness raising on the dangers of fireworks and notification to the public about firearms licensing. The details are as follows:

Anti- Human Trafficking As the Deputy may be aware, Ireland has recently ratified the UN Protocol to Prevent Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime and also the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings.

Within these international instruments there are obligations on Ireland to raise awareness of human trafficking as set out in Articles 9(2) and 9(5) of the UN Protocol and Articles 5(2) and 6(b) of the Council of Europe Convention. There are also commitments on awareness-raising in the National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Trafficking in Human Beings 2009 - 2012. For the year 2010 my Department spent a total of €25,945.46 on such awareness raising activities.

Fireworks This campaign involved providing the public with information, via the print media, of the dangers of fireworks and the penalties associated with their misuse. The campaign was considered an essential element in ensuring that incidents relating to illegal fireworks, many of which involve injuries to children, are reduced insofar as possible. For the year 2010 my Department spent a total of €109,000 on this campaign.

Firearms Licensing This campaign again involved providing the public with information, via the print media and on behalf of the Gardaí, about a Firearms Licensing Awareness Day. The campaign was considered necessary to encourage existing gun-holders to seek Garda advice if they wished to renew their licence under the new licensing system. For the year 2010, my Department spent a total of €9,850 on this campaign.