Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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87. To ask the Taoiseach the number of staff employed by his Department’s press office at the end of each of the past ten years. [9295/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The staffing complement of the Government Press Office at the Department of the Taoiseach at the 31^st March 2025 is one Assistant Principal Officer (Press Office Manager) and five Higher Executive Officers (Government Press Officers). Over the course of the period specified, the number of staff working in the Government Press Office has fluctuated due to normal staff turnover, but the staffing complement in any given year has been aligned to the level I have outlined.

Government Press Officers are rostered to work Monday to Friday between 06:30 and 19:00 as standard. In addition to this, Government Press Officers operate a 24/7 duty service 365 days a year and are called upon to provide press office services to the Taoiseach, the Government and the Department at various locations around the country, often at short notice.

The staff assigned to the Government Press Office come under the management of the Assistant Secretary, Corporate Services Division, while respecting the role of the Government Press Secretary and the Deputy Government Press Secretary in day-to-day management of press and communications.

The Government Press Office sits within the Government Information Service (GIS) which works on a cross-functional and collaborative basis to:

· provide the Taoiseach, the Government and the Department with press office and communications services;

· ensure strong collaboration and coordination among press and communications officials in other government departments and agencies;

· coordinate, amplify and create communications around government priorities such as Housing for All, climate action; migration and integration, road safety and health; and

· lead the development of government communications, facilitate and encourage capacity-building in the area of communications and engagement across the civil and public service, and manage the ‘Government of Ireland’ identity and unified web presence (gov.ie) and social media channels.