Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 November 2019
384. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount spent on public relations, promotion and advertising, including multi-media, in her Department in each of the years 2016 to 2018 and to date in 2019 (details supplied) in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48242/19]
View answerThe amount spent on public relations, promotion and advertising including multi-media in my Department to date in 2019 is set out in the following table. Value for money is a critical consideration at all times in assessing whether external firms should be engaged to provide services of this nature.
2019
|
Activity |
Expenditure |
|
Culture Ireland: social media content |
€ 2,446 |
|
Creative Ireland: social media content |
€76,506 |
|
Total |
€78,952 |
In respect of the information requested by the Deputy in respect of expenditure by my Department in 2017 and 2018 I would refer the Deputy to the reply given to Dáil Questions No 596 and 597 of 19th December 2018. For the Deputy's convenience the relevant material is set out as follows.
In 2017 expenditure of €64,167 was incurred in respect of social media relating to the Creative Ireland programme. This arose from 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. 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 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. Further information is available on my Department's Creative Ireland website.
During 2018 Creative Ireland undertook a four week campaign from mid-May to mid-June 2018 on regional radio and social media to promote the 500 events taking place across the country as part of the inaugural Cruinniú na nÓg day of creativity for children and young people. Three bespoke videos were produced to support and raise awareness of Cruinniú na nÓg - Ireland's new national day of Creativity for children and young people - at a cost of €24,815.
In addition to promoting interest in specific initiatives such as Cruinniú na nÓg, social media is also actively used to support and promote the Creative Ireland Programme generally as well as specific creative endeavours and partner activities. During 2018, specific short videos were also commissioned to promote various aspects or pillars of the Creative Ireland Programme. These included a specially commissioned spoken word piece by Stephen James Smith to mark the publication of 31 Local Authority Culture and Creativity Strategies in September accompanied by five short videos to illustrate the breadth and range of activities supported by the local authority Creative Ireland Programmes; and a video to mark the roll out of the Creative Schools initiative in 150 schools nationwide, in partnership with the Arts Council and the Department of Education and Skills. All these videos are available at www.creativeireland.gov.ie/en. A full breakdown of all costs in 2018 in relation to these activities is published on the Creative Ireland Website.
|
Creative Ireland Expenditure Summary |
2018 |
|
Cruinniú na nÓg |
|
|
Regional radio & social media campaign |
€48,780 |
|
3 Cruinniú na nÓg videos |
€24,815 |
|
Creative Ireland Programme |
|
|
Social Media content - uploading of articles daily throughout 2018 |
€66,420 |
|
12 videos |
€93,110 |
I am also advised that the Culture Ireland Unit of my Department engaged Mr. Nik Quaife on a 1 year contract for the provision of services including a communications strategy for its GB18 programme, to celebrate and renew Ireland’s cultural relationship with Britain. Total expenditure on this contract was €51,400.
The Department also engaged D’Arcy Marketing and BigO at a cost of €17,466 and €6,125 respectively to promote awareness of the 2018 European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) campaign for the recruitment of Irish language translators to the institutions of the European Union.
