There were 20,000 copies of the Budget 2001 newspaper printed. The total cost of the publication is £6,412.50. The articles in Budget 2001 were produced by the press office in the Department of Finance and also included articles from other Ministers and Departments. There were no out side consultants involved in sourcing or producing copy or content for the newspaper. The printing of the newspaper was put out to tender by my Department last December, and the contract was awarded to New Century Limited.
The Budget 2001 newspaper was distributed by the press office in line with the manner in which all other information leaflets pertaining to the budget are distributed. The newspaper was sent to the principals of the 751 second level schools in Ireland for circulation to their students; the distribution list for this purpose is supplied by the Department of Education and Science. The postage costs are £863 approximately.
In addition, copies were also sent to all Departments, departmental press offices – 1,500 copies, Fianna Fáil press office – 2,000 copies and the Progressive Democrats press office – 1,000 copies. Copies were also sent to all national and local media organisations – approximately 500. Some 600 copies were circulated to all officers of my Department. Copies are available on request from the Department of Finance.
The cost of publishing the Budget 2001 Newspaper compares very favourably with similar publications in recent years. As the Deputy will note from the following table, the costs this year were considerably lower than previous years. I am very happy with the very positive response to the Budget 2001 newspaper. I consider the publication to be an effective budget information document, both in terms of the presentation of the volume of financial data and also in terms of production costs efficiency.
Ruairi Quinn, T.D.
