Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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196. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide, in tabular form, broken down by year, the total photography costs for her Department since coming into office, inclusive of costs incurred from the use of the ministerial allowance; if she 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 her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23426/15]

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 €12,662.

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.