Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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269. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of funding allocated by his Department on the Covid-19 communications strategy since the beginning of the pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4441/21]

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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270. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of funding spent by his Department on the Covid-19 communications strategy since the beginning of the pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4442/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 269 and 270 together.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, my Department has neither allocated nor spent any funding on a Covid-19 communications strategy from its own Votes, which are Vote 11 (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform), Vote 39 (Office of Government Procurement) and Vote 43 (Office of the Government Chief Information Officer).

The Deputy may wish to note that my Department, through its Civil Service HR Division, communicates regularly to civil and public servants on Covid-19 matters pertaining to them through the normal channels without engaging external communications assistance.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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271. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the budgetary analysis being carried out in his Department and each State agency under the remit of his Department to plan for the impact of long Covid-19 impacts, in tabular form. [4492/21]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I note that the Deputy has submitted this question to all Departments and that each Minister will be replying in respect of their own Department and the bodies under their aegis.

As a result of its business continuity plans, investment in (and effective use of) technology and the commitment of its staff, the work of my Department has been able to continue since the pandemic began. This has involved large scale remote working by the staff of the Department. In this context, I am pleased that the Department, including the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) and the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), has been able to execute its duties and deliver its public goods, albeit in some cases in a different manner to other years. Furthermore, the Deputy may wish to note that the OGCIO has numerous client organisations across Government for whom it has been able to use its own voted financial resources and knowledge to enable them to deliver their public goods as normal by facilitating remote working on a large scale.

Looking to the future, my Department and the aforementioned two Offices therein expect to be able to continue to operate as normally as possible in 2021 and that any additional costs associated with the pandemic will be managed within the Department’s voted allocation without affecting its operations. This position will be kept under ongoing review in respect of future years.

The position of the bodies under the aegis of the Department is set out in the table at the following link.