Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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659. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection for a breakdown of all spending on external communications and media, by company, including the amount spent and purpose of spend, in each of the past five years, in tabular form. [61221/25]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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For the purpose of this response, ‘external communications and media’ has been interpreted as expenditure on media training services from 2021 to date in 2025.

In the past five years, the Department has incurred minimal expenditure on external media training services. To date in 2025, the Department has spent €3,247.20 (including VAT) on media training services. There was no expenditure on external communications or media training in the preceding four years.

The 2025 spend was with Drury and relates to media training services for ten departmental staff designated as spokespersons for media interviews. This training included preparation and support prior to scheduled interviews, post-interview feedback and guidance.

A breakdown is set out in the following table: