Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
1855. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the research that was carried out that informed the policy decision to invest €0.9 million in citizen engagement under the Creative Ireland programme budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54695/17]
View answer1856. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the research that was carried out that informed the way in which the €0.9 million allocated to citizen engagement under the Creative Ireland programme budget would be spent; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54696/17]
View answer1857. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a tendering process was undertaken in the relation to the €0.9 million spend on citizen engagement under the Creative Ireland programme budget; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54697/17]
View answer1858. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the steps her Department took to ensure that the expenditure of €0.9 million on citizen engagement under the Creative Ireland programme budget represented the best value for money for her department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54698/17]
View answer1859. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount of the €0.9 million allocated to citizen engagement under the Creative Ireland programme budget that was spent on social media advertising; the breakdown of the expenditure; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54699/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1855 to 1859, inclusive, together.
As part of the 2017 Creative Ireland Programme my Department undertook a comprehensive citizen engagement programme to showcase the range and depth of Ireland's cultural and creative offering and to encourage participation in arts and creative activities as a means of individual, collective and societal well-being. One of the objectives was to build awareness of the Creative Ireland Programme, particularly in its first year. The vision of the Creative Ireland Programme is that every person in Ireland should have the opportunity to realise their full creative potential. This represents a new approach to creativity and cultural policy and therefore required a substantial and sustained communications programme in 2017. A combination of approaches and platforms were used to maximise impact, taking account of the diversity of the target audiences.
The development of the citizen engagement programme was very much informed by the positive experience of previous programmes particularly the approach taken in the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme. In addition, statistics relating to readership of national and regional newspapers, listenership to local radio and increased use of social media, particularly by younger people, all informed the choices made. The Programme was also designed to have as wide a reach as possible, including in rural areas.
Pending the tendering for services in relation to media management, my Department continued to use the services of a company which had been engaged during the Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme. This was short-term only for the provision of these services and my Department has since held a new tender competition for the provision of similar services should they be required in 2018 and has awarded a contract in this regard.
As part of the contract requirements the media management company produced reports and statistics in relation to all elements of the engagement programme including digital platforms. The high-quality content across all platforms including print and digital has been well received across the country. My Department is satisfied that in the initial year of the Creative Ireland Programme, such a widespread communications strategy was warranted and presented value for money.
Most recent figures show the following numbers:
Creative.ireland.ie(website) – 130,272 page views
Ireland.ie (website) – 138,388 page views
Creative Ireland facebook – 17,261 followers
Creative Ireland Twitter – 15,800 followers
A full expenditure breakdown of the €0.9m, including social media is provided on the Creative Ireland Programme website: www.creative.ireland.ie
