Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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246. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his expenditure on advertising, with details of the objective, duration, social media platforms, reach, audience, CTR and cost of each social media advertising campaign, in 2023 to date in 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54672/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Transport uses advertising to engage with the public on a range of matters, including highlighting public consultations, encouraging sustainable travel choices, and promoting recruitment opportunities.

In 2023, my Department launched its flagship Your Journey Counts emissions-reduction campaign to encourage people to walk, cycle, and take public transport where they can, in line with our Climate Action Plan goals to reduce transport-related carbon emissions. This TV-led, integrated campaign was the first of its kind undertaken by my Department and relates to the increase on advertising expenditure by my Department in recent years.

My Department places advertising across a range of platforms as required, including TV, out-of-home/outdoor, national and local print, national and local radio, digital, social media, search engine optimisation (SEO), video on demand, digital audio and streaming, and paid partnerships.

All forms of advertising are monitored on performance, with post-campaign analyses undertaken per campaign to measure reach and efficiency across key metrics including CTR, with these insights used to inform future campaign iterations.

Table 1: Shows the total advertising spend 2023-2025 YTD.

The social media platforms used for these campaigns were Meta (Instagram and Facebook), LinkedIn and TikTok. My Department has not placed paid advertisements on X/Twitter since early 2023. The Department keeps all forms of communication to the public, including social media advertising, under consistent review to maximise effectiveness.

In 2025, my Department undertook a social-first phase of the Your Journey Counts campaign on Instagram and TikTok, using short-form video formats native to the platforms and shareable content specially developed to reach and engage online audiences. This campaign was designed to promote active travel and public transport in a resonant, relatable manner and included executions such as vox pop videos shot at transport hubs around the country, with messaging around carbon emissions and enhanced service delivery and system investment, etc.

Table 2: Social Media Spend 2023 - 2025 YTD