I propose to take Questions Nos: 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 529, 532, 533, and 536 together.
There are four civil servants in my Department's Press Office. The Press Officer is a Higher Executive Officer on a pay scale of €44,314 to €56,250. There are two Deputy Press Officers at Executive Officer grade. One of these is on a pay scale of €29,093 to €46,167 and the other is on a pay scale of €30,628 to €48,594 (Class A rate of PRSI contribution applies as this person commenced employment after 6 April 1995). The fourth member of staff on a pay scale of €22,058 to €35,773. The role of the Press Office staff is to provide an effective channel of communication between myself, my Department and the media.
There is one Press Adviser in my Department on a Principal Officer scale of €82,016 to €95,363. The duties carried out by the Press Adviser, who has been appointed on a contract basis for my term of office, are as set out in Section 11 of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, that is, to assist the Minister by providing advice, on a wide range of issues, by monitoring, facilitating and securing the achievement of Government objectives that relate to my Department and by performing such other functions as may be directed by me. It is normal practice for the Press Adviser to accompany me on all official engagements.
Prior to July 2002 there were no Press Advisers employed in my Department. The Press Adviser appointed in July 2002 was on a Principal Officer scale of €59,384 to €69,051 together with a private pension contribution of 11% of salary. In September 2004, a new Press Adviser was appointed to my Department was on a Principal Officer Higher scale of €75,955 to €88,040. In February 2006, a personal salary rate of €101,037 was sanctioned in respect of the Press Adviser. The person in question was also entitled to a private pension contribution of 11% of salary. These scales and rates attracted increases as provided for under the various national wage agreements.
My Department has engaged the services of a media monitoring company since 2005. This company provides an electronic media monitoring service covering publications of relevance to my Department, including the Irish national daily and Sunday newspapers. The press clippings from this service, which have cost €21,280.00 to date in 2007, are available to all departmental staff and are updated daily by the media monitoring company engaged by my Department.
In addition, the Press Adviser and Press Office staff receive a summary of news headlines from the Government Information Services, from Monday to Friday each week. These are received via email and text message and where relevant, I am made aware of issues that may impact on my Department.
Information in relation to the Department's use of Media Consultants is being compiled and will be made available to the Deputy as soon as it is available. The names of the daily newspapers purchased by my Department are listed in the table below. The cost to date in 2007 is €15,558.20.
Name of Newspaper
|
Number purchased by Department weekly
|
Number supplied to Minister’s Office Weekly (included in overall number)
|
Irish Times
|
27
|
5
|
Irish Independent
|
27
|
5
|
Irish Examiner
|
32
|
5
|
The Star
|
17
|
5
|
The Irish Mirror
|
6
|
|
The Irish Daily Mail
|
12
|
|
The Irish Sun
|
6
|
|
USA Today
|
3
|
3
|
Financial Times
|
5
|
|
Waterford News & Star
|
2
|
1
|
Dungarvan Leader
|
1
|
|
Munster Express
|
1
|
|
Southern Star
|
1
|
|
Evening Echo
|
5
|
|
Sunday Independent
|
2
|
|
Sunday Tribune
|
2
|
|
Sunday Business Post
|
2
|
|
Sunday World
|
2
|
|
Irish Mail on Sunday
|
2
|
|
Sunday Times
|
2
|
|
News of The World
|
2
|
|
Expenditure on photography by Ministers for Social and Family Affairs during the period 1997 to date in 2007 is listed below:
Year
|
Amount of Expenditure
|
1997
|
IR£11,898.96
|
1998
|
IR£4,752.20
|
1999
|
IR£5,003.62
|
2000
|
€9,764.36
|
2001
|
€13,950.97
|
2002
|
€9,250.65
|
2003
|
€16,177.92
|
2004
|
€16,203.47
|
2005
|
€16,517.26
|
2006
|
€11,236.32
|
2007 to date
|
€13,194.05
|