Vol. 567 No. 6
127 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on whether his Department's share of the more than ?10 million spent by Government 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 Department spent approximately €2.8 billion in 2002 on the provision of a wide range of schemes and services to support the agriculture and food sectors. The total annual advertising budget amounts to just over €718,000 or 0.00025% of the total budget of the Department. The expenditure on advertising is the minimum necessary to ensure that the Department's clients and the general public are properly informed of the full range of the activities undertaken by the Department. The vast bulk of this spend covers the placing of statutory notices and general display advertising dealing with the Department's schemes and services. The Department does not have a budget for public relations or marketing activities.
