Government spend of €2.2m on communication a 'shocking waste of money'

Thousands of euro given to dozens of communications companies for services despite all departments having dedicated press offices and ministerial press advisors

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould: '€2.2m for help with spin is just another example of this government having no regard for taxpayers’ money.' File picture Dan Linehan

The Government has been accused of another “shocking waste of money” as new figures reveal  it has spent €2.2m on external communications and media.

This is despite all departments having dedicated press offices and ministerial press advisors.

The spending saw thousands of euro given to dozens of communications companies for services including the distribution of press releases, media training for civil servants, and public awareness campaigns.

The information was compiled by Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, following inquiries to all government departments. 

He received responses from all departments except the Department of Children.

Between 2020 and 2025, some €2.2m was spent on external communications and media.

The Department of Defence had the largest spend at €773,000.

This was largely associated with its Be Winter Ready and Be Summer Ready campaigns, which run twice a year. 

€389,000 paid to Spark Foundry for Defence campaigns

Some €389,000 was paid to media communications firm Spark Foundry for these campaigns.

The Department of Housing spent €324,000, including on "PR and Communications services" for Met Éireann through MKC Communications. 

This cost €59,000 last year, €107,000 in 2024, and €64,000 in 2023.

The Department of Finance spent €233,000, including €41,500 to MediaHQ between 2021 and 2025 for “press release distribution”.

Mr Gould questioned why the department is outsourcing its press releases when it has a press office, as he accused the Government of "another shocking waste of public money".

“Have value for money assessments been undertaken on each of these contracts?" Mr Gould said.

“The Department of Finance has an ongoing contract for ‘media monitoring’ and another for ‘press release distribution’. Why can these not be done in-house?

“€2.2m for help with spin is just another example of this government having no regard for taxpayers’ money."

A spokesperson for the Department of Finance told the Irish Examiner that the press office “previously issued all press releases and notices via e-mail using distribution lists built by and maintained by the press office”, but manually updating this list resulted in "several recipients failing to receive important releases”.