Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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80. To ask the Taoiseach the number of full-time and part-time staff employed in the strategic communications unit in 2017 and to date in 2018, by staff according to civil service grade, communications personnel and other staff; the funding allocated to the unit in 2017 and expended; and the budget allocation in 2018 broken down between salary and non salary allocations in tabular form. [11014/18]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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124. To ask the Taoiseach if a panel has been established in his Department for communications officers; if a Civil Service position of head of communications or similar role or description has been appointed in his Department; if so, when the appointment occurred; the grade at which it occurred; the reason for same; the policy the appointment was based on; the person that approved the appointment; and if he plans to make such an appointment. [11985/18]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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130. To ask the Taoiseach if he has satisfied himself that all Public Appointments Service and TLAC procedures were adhered to in the appointment of a person (details supplied) to the strategic communications unit; the duration of their contract; and if there is an optional extension of the contract. [11991/18]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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132. To ask the Taoiseach the way in which Civil Service staff were redeployed into the strategic communications unit in his Department; the organisational structure of that section; the grades of staff; the number of non-Civil Service staff in the unit; and the reporting structure for those staff. [11993/18]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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133. To ask the Taoiseach the staff complement within the strategic communications unit; the grades and roles and roles of each; the staff that are existing civil servants; the number that have been brought in from outside the Civil Service; and the salary costs of same. [12005/18]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 80, 124, 130, 132 and 133 together.

The Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) was established in my Department in September 2017 and the work of the Unit is currently under review.

There are currently fifteen staff in the Unit and all work on a full-time basis. The Director of the Unit was seconded to my Department from Fáilte Ireland and remains an employee of Fáilte Ireland. He was previously seconded to the (then) Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht as Director of Ireland 2016.

No other Head of Communications position has been established by my Department.

On establishment of the Unit, staff in the Government Information Service (GIS) and some staff working on communications projects in my Department were redeployed to work in the SCU. The salary scale, employment status and provenance of all staff working in the SCU is detailed in the following table:

All staff working in the SCU - with the exception of the two staff members seconded from Fáilte Ireland and existing Department of the Taoiseach staff redeployed to work in the Unit - responded to a cross-civil and public service request for expressions of interest and interviewed for their roles. Arising from this process, four applicants were also placed on panels to fill any vacancies that may arise in the Unit in the future.

The standard civil service reporting structure applies within the Unit and the Director of the Unit reports to the Secretary General of my Department.

Because the SCU was established in Q3 2017, provision was not made for it in my Department's 2017 Estimates. Approximately €50,000 was expended by the SCU from September to December 2017 and was met from my Department’s administrative budget.

In Budget 2018, provision was made in my Department’s 2018 Estimates for a non-pay budget of €5m to be made available to the SCU.

Salary budgets are not delegated to individual Divisions / Business Units in my Department. All salary costs for the SCU are met from my Department's administrative budget.