Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 December 2019
166. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the expenses incurred by his Department to date in 2019 for the implementation of ongoing communications strategy initiatives that highlight schemes and programmes operated under the auspices of his Department including advertising and promotion on television, radio, newspapers and online in tabular form; and the level of expenditure for each such initiative. [52122/19]
Amharc ar fhreagra167. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the expenses incurred by his Department to date in 2019 for the commissioning, development, production, promotion and online sharing of a video that highlighted schemes and programmes operated by his Department in tabular form; if such videos have been commissioned for 2020; and if so, the estimated costs of each such video. [52139/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 166 and 167 together.
My Department engages in public information campaigns, where appropriate, in order to draw attention to important issues in the Justice and Equality sector.
The main awareness campaign the Department runs aims to target domestic, sexual and gender based violence. The 'No Excuses' campaign is a high impact media campaign designed to reach a national audience featuring TV, cinema, radio, outdoor, social and digital advertising. The ‘No Excuses’ campaign was preceded by the domestic violence awareness campaign ‘What Would You Do?’ which ran for three years from 2016 to 2018.
The current total cost of the ‘No Excuses’ campaign in 2019 is €1,120,459, which includes €170,915 from the Dormant Accounts Fund.
Funding of €950,000 has been secured to run the campaign in 2020. In addition, funding of €300,000 has been awarded under the Dormant Accounts Fund to localise the campaign message. It is intended, subject to the necessary funding being made available, that the campaign will continue up to 2021.
Two newspaper adverts also ran 7 – 8 December 2019 to highlight the application process for funding for the provision of services supporting victims in the criminal justice system. The cost of this was €2,280.
The use of digital marketing allows the Department to reach audiences that might not be as likely to see or hear traditional forms of marketing such as newspapers, television and radio, and draws greater attention to matters such as domestic violence and human trafficking.
My Department runs an annual Fireworks Awareness Campaign in the run up to Hallowe'en. The total cost of this campaign is €12,491. As traditional print media advertising can fail to reach important target audiences, in particular those under 21, spend was evenly split between print and social media.
In respect of video content, the Press and Communications Office of my Department has been developing its capacity to develop and disseminate such video and digital media content internally since 2016. External videography services are only used exceptionally as in the case of larger campaigns such as ‘No Excuses’ and are procured in line with public procurement guidelines set out by the Office of Government Procurement (OGP). There are currently no plans to outsource further video productions for 2020.
