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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Nov 1992

Vol. 424 No. 8

Written Answers. - Employment of Courier Agency.

Roger T. Garland

Ceist:

214 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs whether the Government employed a courier agency to deliver the Short Guide to Maastricht to help with the distribution of same, either during the postal dispute or after its resolution; and, if so, the costs and locations involved.

Roger T. Garland

Ceist:

215 Mr. Garland asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the cost of printing and distribution of the Short Guide to Maastricht.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 214 and 215 together.

No courier agency was used to deliver the short guide to Maastricht during the postal dispute. The Special Distribution Service of An Post transported copies of the guide to all An Post regional offices, at a cost of £4,690 and it was delivered to households by local postmen who were not affected by the dispute. Following the settlement of the dispute a courier agency was used to deliver the guide in the Clondalkin area of Dublin, when it became apparent that a local industrial relations problem would prevent the delivery by the normal postal services. Ten thousand six hundred guides were distributed in this way at a cost of £299.61, excluding VAT. The total cost of distributing the guide by the normal An Post delivery service in the rest of the State was £48,094.66.

In all 1,250,000 copies of the English-language version of the guide were printed at a cost of £40,555. In addition 20,000 copies of the Irish-language version were printed at a cost of £2,604. Total printing costs were therefore £43,159.

I am sure that the House will agree that the expenditure concerned was productive in terms of facilitating an informed public debate prior to the referendum. Indeed there was widespread praise — in "The Economist" newspaper for example — for the clarity with which the complex issues concerned were set out in our information material.

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