Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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886. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide in tabular form and by year the total photography costs for his Department since coming into office, inclusive of the costs incurred from the use of the ministerial allowance; if he will provide 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 his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23428/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Photography costs incurred by my Department are on its website at the following link. It is the policy of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport that photography costs are kept to a minimum and services are provided in-house by staff.

Where services are contracted, best value is sought and a number of quotes are obtained. Services are contracted out on an exceptional basis only. The Deputy will note that the level of expenditure in recent years is a fraction of what was spent on photography services in 2008​.

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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887. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide in tabular form and by year data on the use of external public relations firms employed by his Department since coming into office; if he will provide the list of uses of the external public relations firm as well as the internal Department policy with regard to employing external groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23444/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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​The information requested by the Deputy is available on my Department's website at the following link . It is the policy of the Department in the exercise of its functions to use internal resources as far as possible, however external consultants are hired occasionally in circumstances where particular expertise is not available internally and where it is deemed to add value and independence to the overall work of the Department. My Department is constantly looking at ways to upskill internal staff to minimise the need to use external consultants.

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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888. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to outline the total amount spent on external information technology consultants by his Department in each of the years 2010 to 2014 and in 2015 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23460/15]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The total amount spent on external IT consultants by this Department in 2010 was €23,556.28. There has been no expenditure on IT consultants by my Department since this Government came to office.