Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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132. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the cost of the advertisements placed in a publication (details supplied) on 2 July after the end of the Irish Presidency and the total cost of advertisements placed in media, broadcast, print and online, that were printed/broadcast/published after 30 June, the date of the end of the Presidency. [33031/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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In order to inform the Irish public on the outcome of Ireland's EU Presidency, space was reserved in the Metro Herald and Irish Independent newspapers on 2 July and 5 July respectively. The costs for these information features were €14,000 in the case of the Metro Herald and €14,000 in the case of the Irish Independent, both exclusive of VAT. No broadcast or online information features were placed, while no further information features in print are planned. The Presidency website and the Presidency's Twitter account remain as an information resource on the results of the Presidency.

These costs will be covered from within the Presidency budget in the Department of the Taoiseach. As you may be aware, the overall budget for the 2013 Presidency was set at €60 million, excluding security costs. This amounted to an overall figure in excess of 40% less than the cost of the 2004 Presidency. With some costs still to be determined, it is now clear at this stage that projected Presidency spending will come under the original Presidency budget of €60m. The revised projected Presidency spend is now €51m, a saving of at least €9m. As the Presidency concludes and as final payments are made, a full financial report will be published later this year setting out the final cost of the Presidency.