Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 30 Jan 2002

Vol. 547 No. 1

Written Answers. - Department Expenditure.

Michael Ring

Ceist:

848 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the amount which was spent in his Department from June 1997 to December 2001 for media purposes and for advertising; the way in which the money was spent (details supplied); the amounts spent on a year to year basis; and the money which was spent on videos, whether for promotional, educational or advertising purposes. [2049/02]

Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

The use of advertising is a vital medium in the effective delivery of social welfare services to ensure that citizens are fully aware of their entitlements and are kept informed of changes and improvements as they occur across the broad range of social insurance, social assistance and other supports available.

An amount of 3,113,948.80, £2,452,434, was spent on advertising by the information services of my Department in the period from June 1997 to December 2001. The following tabular statement gives an annual breakdown of that amount between print media – national and provincial newspapers – broadcast media – radio and television – and expenditure on promotional, educational or advertising videos.

	Print Media	Broadcast Media	Videos
1997	£82,817.00	£24,729.00	£10,348.00
	105,155.90	31,399.35	13,139.25
1998	£179,898.00	£67,194.00	£12,173.00
	228,423.34	85,318.78	15,456.52
1999	£309,415.00	£38,148.00	£58,781.00
	392,876.01	48,437.97	74,636.47
2000	£284,085.00	£141,072.00	£47,423.00
	360,713.54	179,124.49	60,214.79
2001	£874,918.00	£311,653.00	£9,780.00
	1,110,916.70	395,717.68	12,418.04

The increase in print and broadcast advertising in 2001 can be attributed to the extensive campaigns carried out by my Department in relation to the introduction of the euro and the budget 2002 payment increases, both of which were effective from the beginning of January 2002.