Vol. 563 No. 2
178 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether the expenditure of upwards of ?250,000 per annum on press and public relations staff in his Department is justified; the amount of additional costs and expenses in the press, media and public relations area, including advertising and photographic services, either within his Department or externally; and the full details thereof. [7464/03]
I can inform the Deputy that the number of staff currently working in my Department's press and information office is four, comprising one principal officer, who is also in charge of my Department's freedom of information unit, one assistant principal officer, one higher executive officer, and one clerical officer. The Deputy will appreciate that my Department's remit extends over a wide range of important areas including criminal and civil law reform, the Garda Síochána, the courts, the Prison Service, the equality agenda, child care provision, asylum and immigration and other areas. These can and do generate a large amount of media inquiries on a daily basis and I consider that the staff allocated to deal with the media is warranted. I wish to emphasise that the staff are not employed for public relations purposes, but to provide representatives of the media with an acceptable level of service, as expected by them.
In relation to information on the other costs requested I refer the Deputy to my replies to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 312 to 314, inclusive, of Tuesday 12 February 2003.
Question No. 179 answered with Question No. 131.
