Since my appointment as Minister for Social Protection on 6 May this year, my Department has not employed any external public relations firms.
It is the policy of the Department of Social Protection that its Press Office deals with all media queries and public relations matters. My Department’s policy is to use in-house resources as much as possible and to restrict the use of external public relations firms to a minimum.
During the period referred to by the Deputy, prior to my appointment to this office, the Department has used the services of one external public relations firm for training purposes, details of which are outlined in the following table:
Year
|
Company Function
|
2012
|
Carr Communications, 5 Northumberland Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Communications training for senior management.
|
2014
|
Carr Communications, 5 Northumberland Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Media Skills one-day training for a group of officials.
|
2015
|
Carr Communications, 5 Northumberland Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Interview training for a group of managers
|