Parties report Government over advertising of their Project Ireland 2040 plan
The State's ethics watchdog is to investigate if the Government's 2040 publicity campaign breached rules.
SIPO will examine if the extensive campaign broke rules that bar civil servants from political work.
The Irish Times reports that Fianna Fáil has written to the Standards in Public Office Commission seeking an investigation into whether the extensive advertising campaign breaks Civil Service rules or contravenes ethics legislation.
The Social Democrats have also complained to the advertising Standards Authority, claiming the Government breached the principles of the advertising code.
The campaign had a particular focus on cinema advertising and advertisements in the form of paid-for newspaper articles.
The Social Democrats have claimed it was in breach of the advertising code which calls for ads to be “legal, decent, honest and truthful.”
Many of the articles have promoted Government politicians, with some promoting non-office holders – leading opposition parties to warn that the campaign amounts to publicly funded political advertising for Fine Gael candidates.
The campaign was commissioned by the Government’s new strategic communications unit, which is made up of 15 civil servants.
The unit is run at an annual cost to the taxpayer of €5m.
Yesterday Labour TD Alan Kelly called for the Department of the Taoiseach to come before the Public Accounts Committee to face questioning over the outlay on the campaign.
“We need to discuss whether the deployment of a significant quantity of traditional and social media advertising by the Taoiseach's Department amounts to an improper use of public funds for political ends,” he said.
“Media reports today and over the weekend show the lengths the Spin Unit have went to, to make sure that local newspapers were writing good news stories about the latest National Development Plan.
“It is not right that the Government are holding local media outlets in these type of strangleholds.
“Many of these pieces in local media have not been marked as advertorials, the question must be asked if these pieces go against the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland’s guidelines on advertising.
“Consumers have a right to know if pieces in their local newspaper are paid advertorials. I will be writing to the ASAI to seek clarity on this.”
The Government has insisted that, while it supplied information and briefings to newspapers, the final content of the advertisements was a matter for each publication.
