Vol. 537 No. 2
351 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people employed in his Department's press office; the estimated annual budget of the office; the estimated cost of public relation consultancy engaged by his Department, showing the figures for 1998-2000; and the estimated costs for 2001. [15899/01]
There are currently 4.5 staff assigned to my Department's press office. The press office does not have a specific annual budget allocation and there is no figure readily available of the estimated annual running costs of the office. However, the staffing cost of the press office is £158,656.20. No public relations consultants were engaged by my Department in 1998 and the cost for public relations consultancy work in 2000 was £75,284.65. Although a sum of £373,000 has been provided in my Department's Vote for consultancy projects in 2001, there has been no expenditure to date in 2001 on public relations consultancy work.
Question No. 352 answered with Question No. 337.
