Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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484. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of communications staff currently employed in her Department; the cost of these staff for 2022; the expected cost for 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8711/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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There are elements of communications to most roles in my Department, given the millions of individual interactions every year between the staff of the Department and the people they serve.

The Unit whose function relates to supporting corporate communications in my Department is the Communications and Press Office. This includes several cross functional teams which are responsible for a broad range of responsibilities including internal and external communications, the press office and the Department's website on www.gov.ie. The focus of this unit is about ensuring that people are aware of the broad range of entitlements and allowances across the social welfare system.

There are currently 19.8 FTE working in this unit.

The composition of staff in the unit is outlined in the following table. It includes a breakdown of the staff numbers serving in this unit in 2022 and the current numbers serving, as well as their grades.