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Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 February 2018

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

Questions (1, 2)

Micheál Martin

Question:

1. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the number of staff within his Department who have decided to return to work after their official retirement date. [6005/18]

View answer

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

2. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach his plans in respect of staffing levels in his Department for 2018. [6900/18]

View answer

Oral answers (69 contributions)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together.

The role of my Department is to support my work as Taoiseach and to co-ordinate the work of the Government and Cabinet. My Department uses workforce planning and succession planning to ensure that there are sufficient staffing resources in place to deliver the Department's strategic goals. With the exception of politically appointed staff such as special advisers, staff assignments, appointments and recruitment in my Department are dealt with by the Secretary General and the senior management of the Department. There are currently 206.1 whole-time equivalent staff employed in my Department. I am dying to know who the 0.1 is. Perhaps there is a 0.6 and a 0.5, together leaving a 0.1 over. I do not know. There are no staff currently employed by my Department who retired from it and returned to work in it.

In 2016 the then Taoiseach stated that a staffing audit was being carried out in the Department of the Taoiseach. This was in response to questions from me about how the Department was going to undertake a range of challenges, including dealing with Brexit, the ongoing instability in the Northern institutions and the capital plan, which was due to go before a Cabinet committee at that time. The current structures of the Department were put in place before the audit, with the exception of the new marketing unit which was the Taoiseach's idea, although apparently he has no idea what it does for him or for his party. Apparently there are Chinese walls between the two, as we saw at the weekend.

The Taoiseach accepted last week that Michel Barnier, Commissioner Hogan and others are right when they say that the current state of Brexit negotiations is potentially not good news for Ireland. The Taoiseach appears now to accept what we have been saying for nearly a year and a half, which is that a deal specific to Ireland is likely to be the only way to protect the interests of all parts of this island. The issue is now whether there are enough staff with the requisite expertise working on developing proposals for some form of Ireland-specific deal.

I know the Taoiseach wants the British to stay in the Single Market and the customs union but that is not happening. Every speech from every senior Tory Minister indicates that they want to be outside the customs union and the Single Market. Will the Taoiseach say whether he is confident that he has enough staff working on alternative proposals? Has he invited any expert submissions on this issue? Does the Taoiseach have any intention of holding substantive consultations on these alternatives? It is very worrying, for example, that so many small and medium enterprises have made no preparations for Brexit at all. That was the quite stunning outcome of a recent survey. I have met representatives of companies that have 60% of their market in Britain. They are not going to be able to turn that market share around quickly by diversifying. There is a real problem down the road with the type of Brexit that the British want. It will be a problem for Irish indigenous industry along the west coast and outside the Dublin region in particular.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Taoiseach as ucht a fhreagra. My question is about his staffing levels. Can I suggest that, as a first step, he round the 0.1 up to a full post? In a similar response given to a similar question which was tabled last month, the Taoiseach said that staff assigned to the international, EU and Northern division in his Department support the Government's efforts to develop strategic alliances. None of us would argue with the absolutely vital nature of this work, particularly in the context of Brexit and a post-Brexit scenario which, as Deputy Martin has described, could potentially be disastrous for Ireland, North and South, and which certainly will be if the Tories have their way.

It was announced last week that the Cabinet had given the Minister for Health approval to open negotiations with Austria and the Benelux countries to secure affordable access to new medicines for Irish patients. Last Tuesday the Taoiseach said that a letter of intent in this regard was sent or was to be sent. Can he confirm that letter has in fact been issued? When is he expecting a reply? Does he envisage a role for his Department in this process? The cost of drugs has been an ongoing issue and any and all steps to address the cost and accessibility of new drugs for patients are welcome, I am sure we all agree the sooner this matter can be advanced, the better.

I thank the Taoiseach for his answer. Has he completed the staffing of the strategic communications unit? The last answer he provided for us said that there were 14 people working in it. Who in that unit, or elsewhere in the Department, is responsible for writing and placing the information advertisements in local papers this week following up on the national development plan? I see there were very colourful pages in the Drogheda Independent. Two full pages were brought to readers by the Government of Ireland. Is that part of the work of the Taoiseach's Department?

A friend of mine went to see "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" over the weekend. Before he could watch the movie he had to endure another billboard - an advertisement for the new national development plan. Apparently this is only the start of it. We are all going to be encouraged, informed and invigorated by advertisements on social media and in our national and local press issued by the Government in respect of the plan. Who writes that content? Is there someone in the Department of the Taoiseach who specifically works on it? What level of input does the Taoiseach have in it? Is it the view of the Taoiseach that it is simply political advertising? Has he had any discussions with the Standards in Public Office Commission in this regard?

My Department is structured around seven main work areas. The breakdown of the staff currently assigned to each of these is as follows: 24.3 staff are assigned to the international, EU and Northern Ireland division. They are the staff who mainly deal with Brexit but obviously they are very much supported by and work very closely with the hundreds of staff who work for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, not just in Dublin but also in Brussels, London and other places. There are 25 staff assigned to the economic division. They deal in part with the economic response to Brexit and the different scenarios that may arise post-Brexit. Again, they do not work on their own but have the support of hundreds of staff in the Departments of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, which are located just next door. We work across Government. There are 24.2 staff assigned to the secretariat, protocol, general division and the parliamentary liaison unit. There are 13 staff assigned to social policy and the public service reform division. There are 15 staff assigned to the strategic communications unit.

There are 15. Staffing is complete. I cannot tell Deputies exactly who does what out of those various staff-----

I thought it was meant to be five initially.

It was supposed to be five, yes.

-----but the director, John Concannon, obviously directs the work of the unit.

Does the Taoiseach have any idea what goes on in there?

They do not engage in any political advertising. They have been very clear on that. The Deputy opposite may be particularly interested to know that the last time a national development plan was launched and communicated to the public - it is important that we do tell the public what we as a Government are doing - was in 2007. At that time, the then Government made a decision to set aside a budget of €1 million in order to communicate to the public-----

It is now five times that amount.

-----the content of the 2007 plan, including for advertising. Interestingly enough, a body called the strategic communication group was established to monitor it all. It was certainly not my idea. I got it from-----

The unit was the Taoiseach's idea. The Taoiseach appointed Mr. Concannon.

I learned from the masters of political communication. That is a strength, not a weakness.

The unit now has 15 permanent staff. That is interesting.

Some 15 permanent staff for branding.

In the area of corporate affairs, there are 27.4 staff. There are 8.1 staff assigned to information and records management. There is no marketing unit at present. The staff of my Department includes services staff and those who are assigned to the private offices, constituency offices, the press office and also internal audit. I think I have enough staff. The staff complement of the Department is approximately 200 but that is a matter for the Secretary General, not me.

I do not have an update on BeNeLuxA, save to say that, last week, the Cabinet gave the Minister for Health permission to issue a letter of intent to the countries involved setting out our intent to work with them and perhaps join that group and to ensure that we can share information and negotiate on the cost of medicines together in order to get a better price for medicines and obtain quicker access to new medicines for Irish patients, which are twin objectives. It may require an international agreement and it is only then that the matter will come back to my office. In the interim, the Minister for Health will be dealing with it.

I went to see "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" at the Lighthouse cinema on Sunday night.

Was there an ad for Ireland 2040?

There was. There were ads for many things.

Who placed that ad?

I imagine that my Department did so. My Department is organising the strategic communications for the Government.

The Taoiseach imagines?

It did; I know it did. I must say there were ads for many other things and it is not unusual for Government agencies and Departments to take out advertising.

I was not sure what to make of the film, a Cheann Comhairle.

It was very good.

It was good but it was hard to warm to the heroine at all.

Perhaps we will do the criticism elsewhere.

I was not sure what to make of it. The ad was very good, though.

May I ask a brief supplementary question?

There are a couple of minutes left.

Does the Taoiseach think it is acceptable that there is more staff in the strategic communications unit than in the social policy division? Does that not say it all? Social policy was a very strong part of the Department of the Taoiseach in terms of social partnership but also in the context of the RAPID programme areas and facilitating a cross-cutting role for Government with regard to areas of disadvantage, CLÁR programmes and so on.

Initiatives in the north inner city.

It is quite striking that strategic communications, which is very new and which is now embedded within the Department, is the one initiative the Taoiseach has taken and that it trumps all others in terms of staffing and expertise recruited. Given the enormity of Brexit, it is striking that priority is being give to communications above and beyond anything else. I have seen some of the videos as well. In one, reference was made to approximately six projects that were announced years ago and people were shown claiming credit for the N28 project.

That was a mistake. I also saw that one; it was the N17.

The matter went to an oral planning hearing in the region of six months ago. Site selection and other matters have all been taken care of. Likewise, a dental hospital was mentioned that has nothing to do with the Government. The relevant university hospital got money from the European Investment Bank. People will not be impressed by the idea that we use taxpayers' money to advertise projects that have been well and truly launched and announced, including those relating to schools, various buildings, public private partnerships and so on.

In a recent reply, the Taoiseach said that among the tenders his strategic communications unit has put out is one relating to the development of a Government identity system for roll-out across Government. I thought that the Government had an identity and that this is a democratic republic governed by the Constitution. I do not actually understand the ethical framework relating to this sudden roll-out of a Government identity. I understand that it is "marketing speak", but I think it is unethical.

What our Constitution requires is that Ireland be a democratic republic. It is not really for a party that has the responsibility of being in power to roll out a Government identity system. Will there be people or places in our republic that will not meet the criteria relating to this system?

The other matter to which I wish to refer is the provision of marketing pitch specialist services. This would all be understandable in the context of party election campaigns where the aim is to get this or that party into office, either as part of a coalition or on its own. That is what politics is about. However, it is completely different to take the institutions of the State and seek to give them an identity system. What is the ethical framework behind the strategic communications unit and the ads that Deputy Howlin showed?

If Deputy Burton goes on much longer, we will not have time for an answer.

People who read magazines will be familiar with this type of ad. It is called paid information. It is a two-page spread; I am holding it up. The ad is all about Drogheda and it is two pages' worth of paid information. In other words, it is a paid editorial. Everybody in journalism knows what that means; it is one's message that is paid for.

Clearly, the concern is that the strategic communications unit is a propaganda arm-----

-----not of the Government but of the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, and, indeed, Fine Gael and in terms of their electoral ambitions. The next election will happen whenever those in Fine Gael or their partners in Fianna Fáil deem it most advantageous to go to the people.

The Taoiseach might dismiss that. He might say it is simply a part of modernising and professionalising communications. He might even believe that to be the case. There is an ethical consideration, a public interest consideration and a public purse consideration in the expending of public moneys for these advertising exercises. There are, of course, traditional tried and tested ways to roll out things such as large infrastructural development projects and regional plans. I had understood that the floor of the Dáil is the first port of call for doing that-----

-----in order to seek the input and the imprimatur of people who are elected to this House. The latter is also supposed to be sought from those in the Seanad. Clearly, the Taoiseach sees matters differently. I imagine that this will be a source of controversy and disquiet across the Dáil. The bottom line is that people believe the Taoiseach is being a bit chancy with all of this and that public moneys are being expended, not in the interests of professionalism but, rather, squarely in the interests of Deputy Varadkar and Fine Gael.

I invite the Taoiseach to deal with those questions.

I deal with questions like this almost every week. I have said many times that I believe communication is important. It is important that people know what the Government is actually doing on their behalf and how taxpayers' money is being spent. I often hear that the Government does not get its message across. It is important that the Government gets its message across and I intend to make sure that happens.

In terms of the framework and the operating principles, which I imagine cover ethics, I am advised that the operating principles as approved by Government are that the output is characterised by accuracy, truth and quality; that the priority is to simplify communications, with citizens at the centre; that the organisation structure will be built around actual work; that the focus will be on incremental delivery of work at speed; and that teams across Government will be empowered. The unit will carry out its work objectively and without bias and will operate in accordance with the Civil Service code of standards and behaviour, which is published by the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO-----

Does that mean that Deputy Ross gets a fair shot?

-----and will adhere to Civil Service values as delineated by the Civil Service renewal plan and therefore it cannot carry out any party-political work. I can assure Deputies that will be the case.

In terms of the dental hospital, as was the case with this national development plan, NDP, and previous NDPs, it includes Exchequer capital spend and also capital spend by semi-State bodies and other public bodies.

It was announced by the previous president of University College Cork, UCC. This is extraordinary.

It includes the universities. It is not the case that the European Investment Bank has nothing to do with the Government.

There are six projects in that video that have been announced already.

A governor of the EIB is appointed by the Government, and EIB is also-----

I might mention the Dunkettle interchange.

-----capitalised by the Government.

In terms of the identity piece, I do not know the details on that but I understand that it may relate to an attempt to pull together the different ways in which we market Ireland abroad. Tourism Ireland, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia all have different messages.

It is more domestic than foreign.

It might make sense, particularly in the run up to the St. Patrick's Day period and all of the business that Ministers and others will undertake during that period, that we try to have a common brand or picture of Ireland. Other countries have done it. New Zealand has done it very successfully, without having seven or eight different agencies telling a different story about the country but by having a common unified-----

In fairness it is the Minister in the centre, not the citizens.

-----message. I advise Deputies, if they want to move beyond point-scoring, to have a look at what New Zealand did in terms of creating a common identity.

Perhaps the Taoiseach could arrange a briefing for all of us.

If the Deputy would like I can arrange that.

It might be the making of the unit.

Deputies should give the Taoiseach a chance to respond to their questions.

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