Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 February 2021
745. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Justice the amount her Department has expended to date regarding awareness raising campaigns of Covid-19 in national newspapers, regional newspapers, national radio, regional and local radio stations and across social media platforms; and the amount committed to expend under any current contracts or agreements with same in tabular form. [10477/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic my Department has been working closely with all government departments to support the national COVID-19 effort.
At all times my Department has contributed to, and participated in, the large scale cross-Government communications programme which has been running since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has involved supporting and amplifying Government and public health messaging through both our internal and external communications channels.
While not specifically a campaign to raise awareness of COVID-19, since March 2020 my Department has been running the important ‘Still Here’ campaign. This purpose of this campaign is to reassure victims of domestic abuse that support services from State agencies and the voluntary sector are still available and accessible during the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of what level of restrictions are in place. In addition to reminding victims of domestic abuse that help is ‘Still Here’, the campaign also reminds anyone concerned for their safety that the restrictions on movement do not apply to people at risk or who are removing themselves from a domestic abuse situation.
To date the Department has spent €401,952.56 on the Still Here campaign.
The following revised reply was received on 25 March 2021.
Regrettably we are now aware that a mistake was made in the answer regarding the total figure for the Still Here campaign, specifically a credit note had not been accounted for correctly in our records. The figure in my original answer of €401,952.56 was incorrect and the correct total spend for the Still Here campaign so far is €397,944.36.
