Written Answers. - EC Referenda Costs.
Roger T. Garland
Question:
271
Mr. Garland
asked the
Minister for Foreign Affairs
if he will give details of the expenditure which was incurred in the last two EC referenda in 1972 and 1987 with a breakdown of the expenditure in each, including advertising in newspapers, on television, radio, billboards, printing of booklets and handouts, together with an account of any fees paid to public relations and/or advertising agencies; and if he will outline which agencies were employed by the Government on each of these referenda.
A total of £50,000 was provided in the 1972 Estimates for the Department of Foreign Affairs for expenditure on the provision of information on the European Communities and on the question of Ireland's membership and on advertising the availability of this information. Existing records on the 1972 referendum do not provide information on the breakdown of this expenditure between various publicity activities.
The following documentation was produced in connection with the accession negotations and the 1972 referendum: 15,000 copies of the White Paper on Ireland's accession to the EC were printed and either sold by the Government Publications Sale Office or distributed free of charge by Government Departments; of 310,000 copies of "Into Europe", a summary of the White Paper, were distributed to the public through the postal service and by other means; 86,000 copies of the Irish version of "Into Europe" were similarly distributed.
The total number of copies of the booklets and leaflets on aspects of the operation of the EC published by the Department of Foreign Affairs which were distributed free through Post Offices or supplied directly by the Department to individuals was 993,600. In addition, 2,200 copies of the booklet "The Common Market and how it works" were sold through the Government Publications Sale Office and booksellers.
Documentation available relating to the 1972 referendum does not indicate that public relations agencies were employed in connection with publicity. No special advertising arrangements, other than those applying to normal Government advertising, were made for the referendum.
As regards the 1987 referendum, the Government published the following material (all of which was distributed free of charge): 20,000 copies of a detailed information booklet on the Single European Act; 50,000 copies of a brief guide which summarised the provisions of the Single Act in a succinct form; a series of eight explanatory leaflets which addressed various aspects of the Single Act. A total of 6,620,000 copies of these leaflets were printed and distributed.
The total cost of producing the foregoing material (excluding VAT) was £181,731.44, of which £175,231.44 was for the brief guide and the explanatory booklets and £6,500 was for the information booklet, including printing costs.
The total net cost of media advertising taken by the Government in connection with the Single Act referendum, which includes the use of an advertising agency, was £164,263.96. The Government employed the services of the O'Kennedy-Brindley agency for the referendum campaign. No public relations agency was employed.
