FG claims media unit `used for politics'

The Taoiseach has rejected claims by Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan that he is using taxpayers' money to "fight his political battles" through his department's communications or media monitoring unit.

Mr Ahern told the Dail the unit takes a factual account of news bulletins, a number of programmes and of newspapers. "It just logs factually what comes across and circulates that information," he said.

Rather than costing a great deal of money, the unit resulted in substantial savings to the taxpayer.

"I will co-operate with anyone wishing to take a look at how this is done. I think it is an excellent way of doing business."

Mr Noonan said, however, the work of the unit was political, not administrative and it was "entirely inappropriate for civil servants to be retained by the Taoiseach to help him fight his political battles".

There were more than 70 people employed across Government Departments in press activities supplemented by the communications unit; £10 million was spent annually on PR companies and the Taoiseach was using the unit to supplement the activities of the "dirty tricks department in the Fianna Fail Press Office".

It was "undemocratic, unprecedented, unjust and is a corruption of the system. The Taoiseach should put a stop to it." It was something the Comptroller and Auditor General should look at if the Taoiseach was not prepared to reverse a decision to turn down Freedom of Information requests about the unit.

Mr Ahern said Mr Noonan "can refer it wherever he likes". He did not see anything wrong with the unit.

"Departments have in the past brought in well paid outsiders in massive numbers," he said, and used outside companies to obtain films, texts and profiles of all kinds for articles and magazines.

In a full year, the communications unit would save Departments between £110,000 to £120,000, he said during Taoiseach's Question Time.

Seven civil servants staff the unit which works on an 18-hour basis, and since its establishment in 1997, it has cost Mr Ahern's Department a total of £266,053, or an average of £53,211 a year.

Asked by Labour Party leader Mr Ruairi Quinn if he would confirm that a Freedom of Information request would now be accepted, Mr Ahern replied that he had no involvement in such requests.