Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 December 2016
425. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Health the details of the use of external public relations firms employed by his Department per annum since March 2011 in tabular form; the list of uses of the external public relations firm; the internal Department policy with regard to employing external groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39504/16]
View answerBetween March 2011 and December 2014, my Department did not spend any money on public relations or communications consultants.
Details of external PR companies engaged between January 2015 and July 2016, are presented in the following table. I will advise the Deputy separately if any public relations companies were engaged since July 2016.
|
Year |
Name of Company |
Tendered Contract |
|
2016 |
RPS Consulting Engineers Ltd |
Public consultation process to inform the development of a new National Drugs Strategy. This work has a public relations dimension, as it involves a range of different public activities and events to publicise the consultation process in order to optimise public participation |
|
2015 |
DHR Communications |
Development of strategy to support communication of the Healthy Ireland Framework and toolkit for Healthy Ireland Council |
It is the policy in my Department only to engage the services of external consultants where it is felt to be appropriate and cost-effective, taking account of Government decisions and policy on the matter.
