Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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541. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount spent by her Department on public advertising and the purchase of external communications and publicity in 2018 by advertising campaign including specific amounts on social media campaigns (details supplied) or other digital platforms; the amount spent on public relations or other communications support, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53575/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department administers over 70 separate schemes and services, which affect the lives of almost every person in the State. In 2017, some 1.7 million applications for benefits, assistance and access to schemes were received and processed, and over 82 million individual payments were made to people across all age groups and to employers.

The Department is committed to ensuring that members of the public are fully aware of the welfare supports and services that are available to them, and public information campaigns are an important part of this work.

No third party public relations or communications advisory expenditure was incurred by my Department to date in 2018.

Details of all social and digital media advertising, and total campaign, costs, as invoiced to 14 December 2018, are detailed below:

*Facebook promoted post

Invoiced to 14 December 2018.