The following table provides details of public relations companies engaged by my Department from March 2011 to date.
Year
|
Company
|
Purpose
|
Cost
|
2012 & 2013
|
Caroline Erskine, Media and Public Affairs Consultant
|
To assist in the implementation of the communications plan for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union and Associated Projects
|
€56,383.20
|
2013 & 2014
|
Q4 Public Relations
|
Support for the Convention on the Constitution
|
€26,909.24
|
2017
|
Q4 Public Relations
|
PR and Communications services for the Data Summit, June 2017
|
€30,750
|
My Department ensures that it gets best value for money in the procurement of all goods and services and keeps to a minimum the engagement of public relations firms. In the cases set out above, the use of external public relations firms was limited to work carried out for Ireland's EU Presidency in 2013, supporting the Constitutional Convention and in relation to the Data Summit held in Dublin in 2017.