Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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123. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the total amount spent by his Department on advertisements, including traditional forms of advertisement and online advertising, in each of the past ten years and to date in 2021. [54908/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My Department engages in advertising and public awareness campaigns where there is important information that needs to be brought to the attention of citizens. Some examples of these campaigns have included the Online Passport Renewals Service, the “Getting Ireland Brexit Ready” campaign, public information on travel restrictions due to COVID-19, and the Global Ireland initiative, which included a dedicated campaign during the 2019 Rugby World Cup, to promote Ireland’s strengths in trade, tourism, investment, and education. 

An overview of spending on an annual basis is laid out in the table below. The significant increase in spending from 2019 onwards is due to the Department incurring costs for extensive cross-Government information campaigns in relation to Brexit.