Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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224. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide, in tabular form, the total photography costs for his Department since coming to office inclusive of costs incurred from use of the Ministerial allowance; the 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 his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49134/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In my Department photographers are booked for the purpose of recording significant events such as the launch of schemes/programmes, new initiatives and visits by delegations from abroad. Where possible the Press Office uses in house photography and the number of occasions where photographers are booked has reduced substantially since 2011. In 2012, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade established a Framework Agreement comprising five firms for the provision of photography services. This Framework Agreement is available for use by all Government Departments and Offices for events in the Dublin region. If an event is outside Dublin, the practice is to get three written quotations. A detailed breakdown of expenditure since March 2011 is provided in the attached table.