Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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112. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the expenses incurred by his Department to date in 2019 for the implementation of ongoing communications strategy initiatives that highlight schemes and programmes operated under the auspices of his Department, including advertising and promotion on television, radio, newspapers and online in tabular form; and the level of expenditure for each such initiative. [52119/19]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade engages in public awareness advertising campaigns where there is important information that needs to be brought to the attention of the public. In that regard, two significant campaigns took place in 2019 and will be ongoing in 2020; the new “Passport Online” campaign and the “Getting Ireland Brexit Ready” campaign.

In the case of the former, the objective is to build continual awareness of the Online Passport Service for Irish citizens, which is now expanding to include children and first time adult applications. This campaign has a multi-faceted approach, including promotion on social media platforms, national and regional print and broadcast media, and outdoor advertising. Expenditure to date in 2019 on this campaign is approximately €564,000.

Expenditure on the “Getting Ireland Brexit Ready” Public Information campaign was approximately €1.5 million in 2019. While the costs of the 2019 campaign were borne by my Department, this is a whole of Government campaign prepared and executed in partnership with other Government Departments and Agencies, in particular, the Department of the Taoiseach. The public information campaign will continue pending the outcome of the General Election in the United Kingdom and subsequent political developments and decisions. Campaign details and projected expenditure in this area will be made available once those plans have been finalised.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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113. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the expenses incurred by his Department to date in 2019 for the commissioning, development, production, promotion and online sharing of a video that highlighted schemes and programmes operated by his Department in tabular form; if such videos have been commissioned for 2020; and if so, the estimated costs of each such video. [52136/19]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department primarily uses videography to augment information campaigns that promote Ireland’s economic, political and cultural interests and to engage with the Global Irish community. In 2019, campaigns that included video production and promotion were the Rugby World Cup in Japan, the Global Programme for St. Patrick’s Day and ‘Getting Ireland Brexit Ready.’

My Department uses in-house resources for videos whenever possible. Otherwise, my Department procures the services of external agencies via the updated Multi-Supplier Framework Agreement for the provision of Professional Photography and Videography, which is centrally operated through the Office of Government Procurement.

The cost of video production and promotion to my Department for events which took place in 2019 to date is listed in Table 1 below.

St Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is a unique opportunity to engage with the global Irish community and to promote Ireland’s economic and political interests overseas, with levels of publicity and media attention unmatched by the National Day of any other country. This year’s programme had the largest number of countries ever visited for St. Patrick’s Day. The Taoiseach and I, along with 13 Ministers, 19 Ministers of State, the Attorney General, Ceann Comhairle and Cathaoirleach visited 56 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific region. These programmes allowed us to promote trade, investment and tourism with Ireland, to increase visibility in new markets, and to promote our values and our influence in global institutions, notably in support of our campaign to become a member of the United Nations Security Council. It also allowed us to deepen our connections with Irish people and friends of Ireland all over the world.

Team Ireland overseas delivered a total of 1,796 events in support of Ireland’s interest over the 2019 St. Patrick’s Day period in this context. To coincide with and complement these activities, a small amount of expenditure was incurred by my Department in relation to online promotion of an accompanying St. Patrick’s Day video as outlined in Table 1 below.

Global Ireland: Ireland’s Strategy for the US and Canada 2019-2025 and Global Ireland Summit

‘Global Ireland’ is an all-of-Government programme which aims to double Ireland’s impact in the world by 2025. The programme was launched by the Taoiseach and myself and Ministers Humphreys, Madigan and McEntee in June 2018 and sets out Ireland’s ambitions in relation to how we trade, the bilateral and multilateral partnerships that we seek to build and our wider contribution to the world.

Global Ireland: Ireland's Strategy for the US and Canada 2019–2025 is Ireland's first whole-of-Government strategy for the US and Canada. Its aim is for Ireland to build strong, strategic political partnerships with the US and Canada and assume a lead role in building stronger transatlantic relations.

To coincide with the programme of St. Patrick ’s Day-related activities held there earlier this year, my Department incurred a small amount of expenditure in relation to the production and online promotion of a video which outlined the Strategy’s key objectives insofar as the US is concerned.

In July, to mark the 1st anniversary of the launch of Global Ireland programme, my Department held the Global Ireland Summit in Dublin Castle. At the Summit it was announced that Ireland plans to double its impact in the Asia Pacific region, as part of the next phase of Global Ireland 2025. The Taoiseach and I, as well asGovernment Ministers, Ambassadors and key stakeholders addressed the Summit. To coincide with this event a video was produced and promoted via social media.

Common Travel Area - ‘Getting Ireland Brexit Ready’

Irish and British citizens will still be able to move freely, live and work between the two countries. This video was shared across social media and Ireland, the UK and the EU all agree that the Common Travel Area will continue in all circumstances.

2019 Rugby World Cup

In 2019 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade coordinated a multi-agency promotional campaign to promote Ireland as a great place to invest, study, trade with, and visit during the Japan Rugby World Cup. This collaborative Team Ireland promotional campaign was a digital-led effort in the Japanese language to raise the visibility of Ireland amongst a Japanese audience at the Rugby World Cup and to win business for Ireland.

Japan is the third-largest economy in the world. It is Ireland’s 11^thlargest trading partner, and is the largest source of foreign direct investment into Ireland from the Asia Pacific region. The Rugby World Cup presented a significant opportunity to increase awareness about Ireland and to build a positive reputation for Ireland in Japan. This Global Ireland integrated Japanese language initiative successfully increased Ireland’s reach in Japan and is supporting the development of a stronger economic partnership with Japan. The digital resources developed will continue to be drawn on by Team Ireland in its ongoing promotion efforts in the country.