Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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85. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the strategic communications unit in his Department; and the way in which it will relate to each Government Department. [39034/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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87. To ask the Taoiseach the reporting relationship within the strategic communications unit; and the way in which it relates daily to the GIS. [39036/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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88. To ask the Taoiseach the way in which the strategic communications unit can be cost-neutral; and if this will change. [39037/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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89. To ask the Taoiseach if the Government press secretary is part of the strategic communications unit; and the reporting relationship in this unit. [39038/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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90. To ask the Taoiseach if he will differentiate the role of the Government press secretary and that of the new strategic communications unit. [39039/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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91. To ask the Taoiseach the measures he has taken to ensure that the strategic communications unit in his Department is not or does not become party political. [39040/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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92. To ask the Taoiseach the way in which the strategic communications unit will complement existing arrangements within his Department yet work independently from the GIS. [39041/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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93. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on the audit of the public relations and communications work across Departments and the agencies under their remit; the person who will receive the final report; the person or group that is undertaking the report; the cost of the report; and the person or group that will be responsible for implementing the recommendations therein. [39042/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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94. To ask the Taoiseach the reason the strategic communications unit is being established on a permanent basis within his Department; the reason the positions therein were not advertised to allow for open competition; if the staff employed within the unit will be civil servants; the type of contracts they will have; and the salaries of each. [39043/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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96. To ask the Taoiseach the number of vacancies in the GIS; if the recruitment process has been commenced to fill the positions; and the salary scales they will have. [39045/17]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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97. To ask the Taoiseach if the strategic communications unit will be concentrating on social media activity or if it will be involved in all aspects of communication; and the way in which duplication with GIS will be avoided. [39046/17]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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101. To ask the Taoiseach further to the establishment of the new strategic communications unit, the number of staff hired to date in 2017; the number of staff he plans to hire in the future; the salaries of the staff hired to date in 2017; if persons in the unit have been transferred from elsewhere in the Civil Service or recruited externally; the cost to date in 2017 of establishing the unit; and the function of the unit. [39062/17]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85, 87 to 94, inclusive, 96, 97, 101 and 103 together.

Communications is an essential part of effectiveness of any modern organisation. That is particularly true of Government Departments and public service bodies in all countries, given the impact of their activities on the lives of citizens. That is why communications should be treated as a strategic, whole of government activity which should be conducted to the same level of professionalism as any other activity, such as human resource management or financial management.

Ireland should aspire to meet best international practice, and we are seeking to draw on the experience of other countries in this regard.

The new Strategic Communications Unit aims to help achieve that, over time.

It will be integrated within the Civil Service structures in my Department, with the Director of the unit reporting to the Secretary General of the Department. A high-level working group, chaired by the Secretary General, will be established to ensure successful oversight and delivery of the workplan of the unit.

Further cross-Departmental oversight will be provided by the Civil Service Management Board.

The operating principles for the unit will ensure that it does not engage in any party political work.

The unit will convene briefings and consultations across Government, including with Ministers, and with wider stakeholders, as appropriate. A network of communications professionals from across Government will be developed to share best practice and develop continuing professional development for the communication function.

The unit has commenced work but further organisational change will be required before it is fully operational.

The current staff of the unit is made up of six serving public and civil servants, assigned on secondment or through reallocation of internal resources within the Department of the Taoiseach. It is headed by a Director, on secondment from a state agency, at Assistant Secretary level. The other five staff have been reassigned from within the Department. Further staff will be recruited, including through the assignment of three media and communications assistants who were already in the process of recruitment to fill existing vacancies through an open competition run by the Public Appointments Service.

The former GIS function will be integrated within the new structure, while the Government Press Office will continue to operate as before in dealing with day-to-day media queries, under the direction of the Government Press Secretary.

It is likely that further vacancies will be filled through advertisement for staff on secondment from within the Public Service. As with all other positions, the possibility of open recruitment will be considered if that is considered to be the best method to obtain staff with the required skills. These staffing decisions will be made by the Department’s senior management.

Every effort will be made to avoid duplication with existing functions, both within the Department of the Taoiseach and across the public service. Indeed, one of the principal purposes of this initiative is to reduce duplication and increase whole of government co-ordination.

As well as increasing the effectiveness and quality of communications, this will also lead to greater value for money and reduced expenditure.

As an initial step in establishing the modernisation of communications, my Department conducted some research on existing communications activities, including the range of campaigns, brands and channels of communication used by different agencies, and which have built up over many years, under successive governments. The results of that research will be used by civil service management to help frame the work plan for the new unit.

Of course, most of the existing communication activities are an essential part of the work of state agencies, in areas such as transport, tourism, trade and investment promotion, food, energy and health.

Nevertheless, there are significant opportunities for building the effectiveness of that existing capacity, as well as for rationalisation.

This will ensure that the new approach to strategic communications will be cost-neutral. In fact, it is likely to give rise to a significant increase in value for money and a reduction in overall expenditure, over time.