Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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165. To ask the Minister for Finance the communications, press and public relations budget allocated to his Department for 2018; the way in which it is being spent; if it is behind or ahead of profile; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39372/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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My department budgets in line with the subheadings outlined in the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Expenditure 2018(REV). The budget for communications, press and public relations is included in admin non-pay costs specifically subhead iii. training, development, and miscellaneous costs, or depending on the nature of the expenditure it potentially could be accounted for as part of our overall consultancy budget, however the vast amount of our consultancy budget is to provide for the Department's requirement for legal or professional services and to cover any legal costs which arise.

A breakdown of my department's spending in the categories queried is available in the table below:

Separately a further €182,954.46 has been spent resourcing our Press Office to date in 2018, of which the majority relates to salaries.