Vol. 567 No. 6
121 Mr. Boyle asked the Taoiseach his views on whether his Department's share of the more than ?10 million spent by Departments in 2002 on public relations, marketing and advertising represents best value for money; and the plans which exist to reduce spending in this area. [14671/03]
The amount spent by my Department in 2002 on advertising was €284,367.24. This includes €41,690 spent on public notice advertising in the media and in Iris Oifigiúl. This advertising was placed in the media by an advertising agency which was chosen following an open tender competition. As the Deputy will be aware, one of the main criteria in awarding Government contracts in an open tender process is cost and value for money. The remainder of the expenditure on advertising was, €242,677.24 which was in respect of the National Forum on Europe, which comes under the auspices of my Department. The bulk of this was for advertising in the national and provincial media and related to meetings of the forum around the country. This advertising was purely informational and served to inform the public of the forum meetings in their area, the aim of which is to promote and foster a greater understanding of the EU. My Department did not incur any costs in 2002 on outside public relations and marketing consultants.
122 Mr. Boyle asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment her views on whether her Department's share of the more than ?10 million spent by Departments in 2002 on public relations, marketing and advertising represents best value for money; and the plans which exist to reduce spending in this area. [14671/03]
My Department spent a total of €185,692 on media advertising and public relations in 2002 and is committed to ensuring that expenditure in these areas is closely monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure value for money.
