Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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450. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his Department's use of external public relations firms since he came into office by year in tabular form; the uses of these firms and the policy regarding employing them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43648/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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A table containing the information is set out as follows. My Department has not incurred expenditure on external public relations services since my entry into office in July 2014. The expenditure in question has rather arisen in the context of specific initiatives under Ireland’s overseas development programme for which we have from time to time commissioned companies with a public relations and communications background to provide other professional services such as project management, logistics and event management. DHR Communications has been contracted to manage and administer grants to journalists reporting on international development issues under the Simon Cumbers Media Fund (SCMF) and to manage and administer annual 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 new two-year contract in April 2015 following a competitive tendering process.

Following a further competitive tendering process, DHR was also engaged to plan, manage and execute a national Africa Day 2015 flagship event in Dublin. Like annual Africa Day events held over successive years, this incorporated musical entertainment and cultural activities aimed principally at family audiences. DHR’s role involved the administration of a small grants scheme for regional events which they 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 work represented a very minor element of the overall project and was conducted in close cooperation with my Department’s communications office.

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.

The table below sets out the payments to DHR since July 2014.

Expenditure July 2014 - Date