Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Departmental Communications

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 December 2018

Tuesday, 18 December 2018

Ceisteanna (2, 3, 4)

Michael Moynihan

Ceist:

2. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Taoiseach the social media costs in his Department. [50454/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Joan Burton

Ceist:

3. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Taoiseach if he has updated his Department’s policy with respect to social media. [50554/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Mary Lou McDonald

Ceist:

4. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his Department’s social media policy. [51726/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí ó Béal (11 píosaí cainte)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive, together.

It is important to communicate across a variety of platforms, including social media, to ensure transparency and clarity for all citizens. The Government Information Service is now required to provide a 24/7 service to media organisations, on all topics of public interest, and with short response times. It is also required to generate its own online content, including written, audio and video material, as well as live broadcasts on occasion.

Digital advertising includes advertising on search engines, to ensure the public is directed to the sites that deliver the services or information they are looking for; and sponsored posts on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, to ensure strong dissemination of Government information.

The expenditure on digital advertising in 2018 is estimated at approximately €450,000. This expenditure relates to major cross-Government public information campaigns that the Department funded centrally during 2018. Examples include Healthy Ireland, Global Ireland, Project Ireland 2040 and the campaign on self-employed benefits aimed at ensuring self-employed people are aware of the new and existing benefits available to them. The majority of this expense was incurred prior to July 2018, before the strategic communications unit was wound down.

Public information campaigns in the latter months of this year have been funded largely by the relevant line Department, as opposed to being funded centrally from my Department. As a result, expenditure for 2019 on social media is anticipated to be a fraction of what it was this year.

The current published social media policy for my Department requires updating to align with recent organisational changes. This is due in early 2019. The social media activity in my Department is governed by strict operating principles, however. The social media channels for my Department are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The central objective for these channels is to report objectively the work of the Government and, over time, to provide a valuable archive of information.

The following are the main operating principles governing the use of these social media channels: that the content consists of news stories and press releases; speeches and statements from the Taoiseach and Government Ministers; photos and videos from Government events and my engagements; live tweeting of Government events; and other content as deemed appropriate. The use of social media platforms is not intended as a means of contacting me or my office directly, or of submitting press queries. These activities are handled by other means. Following or retweeting another account does not imply an endorsement of any kind. All staff in my Department who update social media channels are bound by the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour.

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. It is fair to say that, since he became Taoiseach, expenditure on video production and social media generally has risen dramatically. It is close to €500,000, as reported in thejournal.ie and as the Taoiseach has confirmed. The largest item of expenditure relates to Project Ireland 2040, on which approximately €146,000 was spent when it was launched earlier in the year. There was a lot of controversy over it in terms of a political context as a background to the entire launch. There was €21,000 spent on the campaign for Ireland to host the Rugby World Cup. That was interesting again. The videos are of high production quality. All the videos tend to cut to images of the Taoiseach. In the case of the Rugby World Cup, the head of the Irish Rugby Football Union is shown, which is fair enough. According to thejournal.ie, also shown are "Frances Fitzgerald and Shane Ross in slow motion alongside scenes of the landscape of Ireland, Croke Park, Lansdowne Road and iconic rugby moments in our history." There are clear implications here in some respects in terms of the political positioning and promotion of Ministers, with music in the background.

We accept that social media are well established as a communications platform for official information. Unfortunately, however, they are also a means of spreading disinformation, in addition to being a means by which Governments can engage in publicly funded propaganda. The abuse of public funding in social media during recent election and referendum campaigns in Hungary, for example, is especially striking. That is why we have to be vigilant here. In the past, quite strict rules were developed about political content in official broadcast and print advertising. Rules concerning transparency in costs and outlets were respected until last year when documents released under freedom of information legislation showed at least one Minister personally decided on advertising allocations to individual newspapers. One could see the Minister's intervention in deciding on which newspapers and how much they got. In another case an official personally reporting to the Taoiseach held direct discussions with newspapers, including on how much money they would receive.

The Taoiseach has said repeatedly he has no problem with millions being spent on advertising that features him and Ministers to an excessive degree but this is at least partly back under control with the closure of the personal marketing unit, the strategic communications unit, that he advocated. The key issue in regard to social media concerns what rules are in place to ensure promoted activity paid for by the taxpayer and the public adheres to reasonable guidelines. An enormous difference between this activity and traditional advertising is that much of the population will not be exposed to it, and even if social media are used the advertising is seen only by those in a targeted group.

Who decides what keywords are bought, what platforms are used, which groups are targeted and what the messages are? For example, our campaign for the UN Security Council is targeted at a limited number of people in governments in other countries. One would think that is what we are doing generally and what diplomats do, yet for some reason money was spent promoting it to people here with a very expensive video production. Never before in our successful Security Council campaigns — we have had some successes in this regard — was money spent on advertising in Ireland. The domestic audience is not really in a position to influence the campaign. Is there a process whereby a senior person reviews promoted messages? What are the guidelines to ensure this publicly funded platform does not become dominated by the promotion of the Taoiseach or other political figures? All of the videos and online material show politicians left, right and centre.

It is recognised, and the Taoiseach acknowledged it himself on television, that he is very keen on social media. Some have interpreted this as his being obsessed with spin and social media rather than real content. The sum of €500,000 is quite a lot to spend on videos. We know of some of the videos. The cost of the Project Ireland 2040 video is indicated as being €146,000. This is very hard to understand, given the difficulty the Government is having in meeting serious targets before 2040. The children’s hospital is a shambles involving bad budgeting. The housing situation is causing enormous distress to people throughout the country. How much does the Taoiseach spend advertising on YouTube? He advertises a lot. As a patron of the cinema I see the Government messages that are obviously designed to appeal to young people. I am not sure that is absolutely correct as it is a very political way of getting across a political party message rather than a Government message, presumably to younger people as they attend the cinema.

How many staff members in the Taoiseach’s Department work on social media platforms for him as Taoiseach? Do social media comprise the primary current means of communication for the Taoiseach? The number of official photographs the Taoiseach has is well down on the number that previous incumbents of his office had. What plans does the social media section in the Department have to deal with the potential of Irish elections being contaminated in the future by foreign entities, in respect of which we have seen considerable evidence in America vis-à-vis Russia? There were some attempts to do it in the repeal campaign.

In the context of the forthcoming election at some stage in the years to come, will we take real action to ensure our election process is not contaminated in the way the American election process has been by the misuse of social media?

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. I want to ask about a separate angle. There is a message on the Department's website stating it will soon move to an online portal for Government services. When will this be completed? When will other Departments move to that portal? On a separate matter, a number of weeks ago the Taoiseach said the Minister, Deputy Bruton, was seeking legal advice from the Attorney General on the Digital Safety Commissioner Bill brought forward by my colleague, an Teachta Ó Laoghaire. Has that advice been received from the Attorney General? Will the Taoiseach give us a sense of what is included in the advice? As the Taoiseach is aware, the Bill has broad support, including from the ISPCC, the Children's Ombudsman and CyberSafeIreland among many other groups.

My view is that video is a very good means by which to communicate. I notice Members of the House are using video and screenshots from the Chamber more and more on Facebook, YouTube and other social networks to get messages out to their constituents as to what they are actually doing to represent them in the House. It is a good thing they are doing this because it is a good means by which to communicate. It is visual and audio and very accessible to people.

As Deputy Burton acknowledged, less is spent on other areas in which money was spent in the past, such as official photography and make up. If we are using video it may as well be high quality but they certainly are not all high quality. The personal ones I do are probably low quality but perhaps they get the message across almost as well. The figure of €450,000 is not for video production. It is the whole cost and includes production, advertising and VAT. It is the cost in its entirety. I do not make any decision on which news outlets or networks get contracts nor do I wish to. The UN Security Council campaign is not being operated by my Department. It is being operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, so any questions on the detail of that particular campaign would have to be addressed to the Department.

The general point I am making is valid.

It is good that the public should know a little bit about what the Government's foreign policy is and how their money is being spent-----

That is not what the video does.

-----whether it is through our involvement in the United Nations, peacekeeping efforts or international development. I guarantee the House it is much more important to me that we concern ourselves with the substance of that. There is a €110 million increase in the budget for international development next year, which is more than many people called for. It is a significant increase. Getting back on the trajectory to 0.7% of GNI is the most important aspect for me. That we are actually doing this is the substance of it. It is entirely appropriate that the public should know this because it is their money. Whether they agree or disagree, they have a right to know how their money is being spent.

That was not the purpose of the video. It was the promotion of your good self.

At least those who do agree with it as a policy are aware of it and they can form a view on it. It is not something that should be just buried away in a budget lying somewhere. We should tell the public how their money is being spent and what work the Government is doing on their behalf. If they choose to be supportive of it that is their choice. If they choose to be against what we are doing that is their choice too. This is why we are a democracy.

I fully appreciate that we have to separate Government communications from party political communications and that we need to make sure Civil Service staff do Civil Service work and political staff do political work. This is why all along I have kept merrionstreet.ie and the Merrion Street account separate from what I do in terms of my own accounts, which have no Civil Service involvement and do not involve the use of any public money.

Barr
Roinn