Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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461. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide in tabular form, the use of external public relations firms employed by his 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 he will make a statement on the matter. [49157/14]

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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475. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total external public relation costs incurred by his Department in 2011, 2012, 2013 and estimated in 2014. [49382/14]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 461 and 475 together.

As the questions differ slightly in the time frame specified, my response will cover the full period, 2011 to 2014. Over the years 2011 to 2014, my Department has not incurred expenditure on external public relations and communications services. Although it has been our practice not to engage the services of external public relations firms, we have from time to time commissioned consultants or companies with a public relations and communications background to provide other professional services such as project management, logistics and event management.

DHR Communications is the only company which has been contracted since 2010, to manage and administer grants under the Simon Cumbers Media Fund (SCMF) and Africa Day celebrations.

The SCMF involves managing three funding rounds each year and managing the SCMF student competition. This typically involves the following activities:

Convening national and regional information workshops;

Managing and administering the application process;

Organising the judging process

Providing detailed feedback to all applicants;

Processing grant payments and keeping detailed administrative and financial records;

Maintaining and updating the SCMF website.

It should be noted that expenses paid to third parties account for approximately 30% of the total paid to DHR for managing and administering the Simon Cumbers Media Fund. This includes costs associated with maintaining and updating the SCMF website, facilitating the judging process and raising awareness of the Fund among journalists. DHR was awarded a two-year contract to 2012 and was re-engaged in February 2012 for a further two years following a competitive tendering process. The contract was extended in 2014 for a further year.

Following a competitive tendering process, DHR was also engaged to plan, manage and execute a national Africa Day flagship event in Dublin. This includes the administration of a small grants scheme for regional events which DHR managed on behalf of the Department in partnership with a number of local authorities. DHR also worked to raise public awareness of the Africa Day events, including through the use of social media and the Africa Day website. This ‘public relations’ work represented a very minor element of the overall project and was conducted in close cooperation with my Department’s communications office.

Africa Day Family Days, incorporating musical entertainment, cultural activities and an African Bazaar, were hosted by the Department in Iveagh Gardens in 2009 and 2010, in CHQ in Georges Dock in 2012 and at the Farmleigh Estate in 2013 and 2014. In 2011, the Department supported a series of smaller-scale performances, family events, art exhibitions, debates and educational activities instead of hosting a flagship event.

In relation to the expenditure on Africa Day, expenses paid to third parties accounted for between 70% and 80% of the total costs listed below. This included expenditure on security, sanitation, venue set-up, health and safety issues and small grants to facilitate the participation of community groups.

DHR also provided short-term management support services for the Review of the White Paper on Irish Aid, including the logistical management of the nationwide public consultation activities.

The table below sets out the payments to DHR since 2011.

Payments to DHR Communication for Project and Event Management 2011 to 2014