Written Answers Nos. 1-12
1. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Taoiseach the way in which the membership of the Media Commission was selected; and if a person with local media and news publishing experience will be included in the Commission. [30147/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra6. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Taoiseach the way in which the members of the Future of Media Commission were selected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29336/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 6 together.
On Tuesday 29 September, Government approved the terms of reference and membership of the Future of Media Commission.
In line with the standard approach to establishing a Commission of this nature, members were appointed by Government with regard to the particular mix of skills and experience that the Government considers appropriate to the work of the Commission. The composition of the Commission represents a balanced mix of experts in public service media, independent journalism, social media, new technology platforms, media economics, culture, language, creative content, governance and best international practice.
Professor Brian Mac Craith has been appointed as Chair of the Commission. Other members of the Commission include:
Sinéad Burke, Director of Tilting the Lens, writer and academic active in social media, and member of the Council of State
Alan Rusbridger, Chair of the Steering Committee of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, and former Editor-in-Chief of Guardian News and Media
Lynette Fay, freelance broadcaster (broadcasting as Gaeilge and in English on BBC Radio Ulster) with an academic background in applied communications
Nuala O’Connor, co-founder of South Wind Blows, writer and documentary film-maker in the areas of music and the Arts
Gillian Doyle, Professor of Media Economics (Theatre, Film and Television Studies), University of Glasgow
Mark Little, CEO and co-Founder of Kinzen. Founder of social news agency, Storyful
Stephen McNamara, Director of Communications, Irish Rugby Football Union
Dr Finola Doyle-O’Neill, Broadcast Historian, University College Cork
The names of two further members with relevant expertise will, subject to their availability, be announced shortly.
The Commission has been constituted as an expert group, rather than a stakeholders’ representative body. Members have a broad range of expertise and experience as journalists and/or academics in broadcast, print and online media at national and international level, including at senior editorial level.
It is envisaged that the Commission will have extensive engagement with key stakeholders, including journalists and their representatives, publishers, regional media, and the wider public to inform its deliberations.
2. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Taoiseach the contracts with public relations agencies and management consultants entered into by his Department; and the remit of these contracts including the costs in tabular form. [29362/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has no contracts with consultants or Public Relations agencies.
The Citizens’ Assembly, which is staffed by my Department, has engaged Q4 Public Relations to provide media liaison and communication services incurring costs of €16,394 to date in 2020. Its remit includes raising public awareness of the Assembly’s work; managing media attendance at face to face meetings of the Assembly and providing a press office service to engage with the media to respond to queries on the work of the Assembly.
3. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Taoiseach if he will provide information on a matter (details supplied). [29415/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra10. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the details of the divisions within his Department including the policy areas allocated to the work of each in tabular form. [30123/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra12. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide details of his Department’s senior management team to include the senior officials with responsibility for each of the divisions within his Department in tabular form. [30180/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 3, 10 and 12 together.
Details of my Department's organisational structure and its senior management team (including their names and a description of all individual roles from Secretary General to Principal Officer level) are available on the 'whodoeswhat' website available at the following link: https://whodoeswhat.gov.ie/root/taoiseach/
A copy of my Department's organisational chart is available on the gov.ie website at: https://www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/9b761e-department-of-the-taoiseach-organisation-chart/
The email address template to contact officials at my Department is firstname.surname@taoiseach.gov.ie
During current COVID-19 restrictions, officials can be reached by contacting the main telephone number for the Department - 01 6194000.
4. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach if a list of Cabinet committees that has been established will be provided; the membership and purpose of each; and the additional Cabinet committees he expects to be set up in 2020. [29529/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra5. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach the number of Departmental committees established; the membership and purpose of each; and the additional Cabinet committees he expects to be set up in 2020. [29530/20]
Amharc ar fhreagra9. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the details of the current Cabinet committees including the policy areas that each committee covers in tabular form. [30122/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 4, 5 and 9 together.
The Government has established 10 Cabinet Committees, with membership as shown in the table below. Cabinet Committees are established by the Government to assist it in carrying out the responsibilities of Government in the areas indicated by their titles. They meet as appropriate according to their work schedules. Other Ministers or Ministers of State may attend meetings as required.
The Government will keep under review the need to establish any further Cabinet Committees in the light of evolving needs and emerging issues.
Apart from the various Cabinet Committees set out and associated Senior Officials Groups I have not established any other Departmental Committees.
|
Cabinet Committee |
Membership |
|
COVID-19 |
Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Minister for Health Minister for Finance Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Foreign Affairs; and for Defence |
|
Economic Recovery and Investment |
Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Taoiseach Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Minister for Finance Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media |
|
Housing |
Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Minister for Finance Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection; and for Rural and Community Development |
|
Health |
Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Minister for Health Minister for Finance Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform |
|
Environment and Climate Change |
Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister for Finance Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection; and for Rural and Community Development Minister of State Hackett is invited to the Cabinet Committee |
|
Social Affairs and Equality |
Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Finance Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection; and for Rural and Community Development Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Minister for Health Minister for Justice and Equality Minister for Education and Skills Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science |
|
Education |
Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise, and Innovation Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Minister for Education and Skills Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Finance Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Minister for Children and Youth Affairs |
|
Europe |
Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Minister for Foreign Affairs; and for Defence Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Finance |
|
Brexit and Northern Ireland |
Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport Minister for Foreign Affairs; and for Defence Minister for Justice and Equality Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Minister for Finance |
|
Government Co-ordination |
Taoiseach Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications; and for Transport |
7. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Taoiseach when the citizens' assembly on drug use will be convened; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29282/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for Government provides for establishment of Citizens' Assemblies to consider matters relating to the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin; drugs use; biodiversity; and the future of education.
The timing of each of these Assemblies has yet to be worked out but it is expected that the Assembly to consider the type of mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin will be established next, with a new Chairperson and new members, following completion of the current Assembly. The situation is of course complicated by restrictions necessitated by Covid-19.
Officials from my Department are engaging with officials from Department of Health on the approach to be taken as regards the Citizens’ Assembly on drugs use, however it is important that the work currently underway in relation to the multidisciplinary response to addiction and recovery should not be delayed while consideration is being given to the correct way to proceed with the Citizens’ Assembly approach.
The work of the current Citizens’ Assembly on gender equality has been delayed by the impact of Covid-19. The Assembly has had to adapt its methods to comply with Public Health guidelines and is resuming its work with online meetings with the aim of reporting by June 2021. The experience of the current Assembly of operating on an online basis will inform the approach to the other Citizen's Assemblies to be undertaken in line with the Programme for Government.
8. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Taoiseach the amount spent on public relations, promotion and advertising, including multimedia, in his Department in each of the years 2016 to 2019 and up to 30 June 2020 prior to his appointment as Taoiseach. [29864/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe following table details the figures requested by the Deputy.
|
Online Advertising |
||||
|
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 - to 30th June |
|
€0 |
€0 |
€436,823 |
€12,281 |
€900,216 |
|
Broadcast Advertising |
||||
|
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 - to 30th June |
|
€0 |
€0 |
€301,606 |
€0 |
€5,301,839 |
|
Print Advertising |
||||
|
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 - to 30th June |
|
€10,629 |
€10,659 |
€425,297 |
€4,130 |
€4,127,542 |
|
Video/radio/advert production costs |
||||
|
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 - to 30th June |
|
€0 |
€29,957 |
€501,576 |
€17,208 |
€341,535 |
The bulk of the spend to date in 2020 has been to deal with the COVID-19 emergency. The 2020 figures include spend on all Campaigns which were commenced before June 30th .
Since March, my Department has co-ordinated communications for the whole-of-government response to the pandemic. This necessitated expenditure on a broad range of targeted public information campaigns.
The overall communications strategy for Covid-19 is based on a coordinated response that ensures maximum clarity for citizens, businesses and our wider community. This aligns with both World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) advice, both of which emphasise the importance of ensuring the general public is aware of the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak and further that a high degree of population understanding, community engagement and acceptance of the measures put in place are key in preventing further spread.
It is also recommended that communication strategies should target different audiences and provide the rationale behind the measures, also outlining the necessity to put a support system in place to provide essential services and supplies (e.g. food and medication), and to monitor vulnerable individuals.
Campaigns have included Radio, newspaper and social elements.
A number of campaigns were run as restrictions were imposed in order to explain the measures and reinforce public health messages.
At the beginning of April, a campaign was run to raise awareness of the Community Call Forum, which was established to provide important supports and services to any vulnerable person who needed them via local groups working with State agencies and community and voluntary groups.
On 1st May last, the Government’s Roadmap to Reopen Society and Business was published. A communications campaign was run to explain the different phases of the Roadmap.
It was also necessary to run campaigns at each phase of the Roadmap as restrictions were lifted. The campaigns associated with the Roadmap were aimed at giving people time to prepare, so that businesses could be ready to open.
Campaigns were developed to ensure Businesses were aware of the broad level of supports being made available by Government to them and to raise awareness of the Return to Work Safely protocol.
In all such cases, it is essential that citizens, business owners and communities are informed of the decisions being made by Government, and campaigns are developed and implemented to make the public aware of these decisions.
In 2019, the spend included €12,000 on online advertising, and €17,000 on video and radio ad production. My Department paid for public information campaigns relating to Budgets 2019 and 2020, for public consultation notices for draft language schemes, and for the ‘Votail100 ’ commemorations. There was also expenditure for advertisements relating to the recruitment of Judges.
In 2018 , the €1.6m spend was across online, print, broadcast advertising, and production costs. The spend related to major cross-Government public information campaigns that the Department funded centrally. These campaigns included Healthy Ireland, Global Ireland, Project Ireland 2040 and the Self Employed Benefits campaign, aimed at ensuring self-employed people are aware of the new and existing benefits available to them.
In 2017, the €40,000 spend related to cross-Government public information campaigns on Healthy Ireland and Self-Employed benefits.
In, 2016, the €10,000 spend related to the Home to Work information campaign.
11. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the details of policy format and organisational process by which the groupings for Taoiseach oral parliamentary questions are decided within his Department. [30124/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe grouping of parliamentary questions for reply is a routine administrative process carried out by officials in Government Departments, including mine. As the Deputy will appreciate, it is frequently the case that Members ask similar or identical questions on a given policy area or topic. These questions are generally grouped together for reply in order to ensure that as many questions as possible can be addressed in the time available and also to reduce the need for undue repetition.
