Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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370. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide in tabular form, the total photography costs for her Department since coming to office inclusive of costs incurred from use of the ministerial allowance; the list of occasions for which photographers were booked; the photographers used; the breakdown of costs associated with each occasion that a photographer was used; if there is a policy regarding the booking of photographers within her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29108/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Photography services are used, in conjunction with some press releases and conferences, to communicate the Department’s initiatives, schemes and services to customers and to the regional and national media. Since March 2011, photography services were used for the occasions as set out in the table below. The total cost from that date is €11,477.

The procurement of these photography services is carried out in accordance with national and EU procurement procedures and since March 2012, the Department has been procuring photography services under the Framework Agreement established by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in February 2012.

Full details of the Framework are available online via the National Procurement Services contract list at .

I do not use my ministerial allowance for this purpose.

Photography Costs 2008, 2009 and 2010

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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371. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide, in tabular form, the use of external public relations firms employed by her Department since coming to office; the list of uses of the external public relations firm; the internal Department policy with regard to employing external groups; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29125/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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In line with Department of Social Protection policy, the press office deals with all media queries and public relations matters. It is the Department’s policy to use in-house resources as much as possible and to restrict the use of external firms to a minimum. During this period, the Department has used the services of one external public relations firm for training purposes, details of which are outlined in the following table.