Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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169. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide in tabular form, per annum, the use of external public relations firms by his Department since he came into office; the external public relations firm used; to outline the internal departmental policy on employing external groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20392/16]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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A table containing the information follows. My Department has not incurred expenditure on external public relations services since my entry into office in May 2016. 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, including the annual 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 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 2016 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 in the table. This included expenditure on security, sanitation, venue set-up, health and safety matters and small grants to facilitate the participation of community groups.

The following table sets out the payments to DHR since May 2016.

Project/Event