The roll-out and launch of the national development plan have been by far the most expensive and extensive ever undertaken by a Government. The role of the strategic communications unit, SCU, which the Taoiseach established and whose head he selected, must come under the closest of scrutiny and most comprehensive of reviews. The SCU-directed campaign has, either advertently or inadvertently, politicised elements of the Civil Service, whether we like it or care to admit it. The campaign represents an abuse of taxpayers' money. Government advertisements or funding of the media should be at arm's length and should not be used for party political or electoral objectives. The Civil Service code in this regard has been breached as a result of this campaign.

If one reads the Longford Leader, Limerick Leader or Roscommon Herald, for example, one will see advertisements masquerading as news articles with Fine Gael Party candidates prominent in them. Some are not members of the Government or even Members of the Oireachtas but election candidates. A double page spread in the Sunday World features Senator Gabrielle McFadden and places emphasis on Athlone. The Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, features but not to the same degree as Senator McFadden. Again, this is a clear electoral pitch by any yardstick. It is meant to be an advertisement informing members of the public about the national planning framework or national development plan. In essence, however, it is the use of taxpayers' money to advance and promote Fine Gael election candidates. One sees the same trend in other constituencies in terms of trying to identify key marginal constituencies and promoting issues that affect them.

We have an independent media, thanks be to God, which is essential to the health of our democracy. Speaking truth to power is an essential prerequisite of this. The media need revenue and the Fianna Fáil Party does not have any difficulty with advertisements that are clearly identified as such. Media content partnerships between government and the media should be fully transparent. In that context, one local editor told The Times, Ireland edition:

This is fake news. Newspapers are struggling and the government know that, so they've got us by the..."

Parliamentary decency prevents me from finishing the sentence. Regional newspapers were instructed to make Government advertorials look like independent stories and, in some cases, part of the normal news cycle.

I have some basic questions. Last week the Taoiseach was asked the estimated cost of this campaign. Will he outline to the House what it has cost and the overall estimated cost? Does he accept that there has been a blurring of lines in how all of this has transpired, that it has involved politicisation of the staff of the strategic communications unit and that, essentially, the entire promotion has been about Fine Gael's electoral advancement?

The strategic communications unit operates at arm's length from me and the rest of the Government. It is a Civil Service-staffed entity which operates at arm's length. It does so in accordance with the Civil Service code. That is the case. On the Deputy's assertion that it has been the most expensive public information campaign run by a Government, that is absolutely not the case. From the records I have, the most expensive one was run by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party coalition, the "Change" campaign which dealt with the Government's climate change agenda. It cost €15 million. The public relations campaign for Transport 21, again when the Deputy was a member of the Government, cost €3 million. This campaign will cost approximately €1.5 million, half the cost of the Transport 21 campaign and one tenth of the cost of the "Change" campaign.

We did not stick our councillors into the campaign.

I have said before and will say again that good communication is a virtue. It is right and proper that the Government should be able to inform the public about what it is doing, what is happening, how public money is being spent and how it is acting in the people's interest. I often meet people who say to me that the Government is not communicating correctly or not getting its message across and that we need to do more in that field to ensure the people are fully aware of what it is doing. I also know what the Deputy is doing. He does not want people to talk about Project Ireland 2040 or the good plan we have published to improve the country and upgrade infrastructure in the coming years. That is what we produced as a plan for the next 20 years backed up by a ten-year infrastructural investment plan running to €116 billion.

Stick to the subject.

Last week the Deputy did not want to talk about it; instead he wanted to talk about process and procedure. This week he wants to talk about the public information campaign because he does not want the people to hear about the plan. He does not want them to hear about the Government's vision to make the country a better place.

The Taoiseach does not want to answer the question.

The Deputy does not want to hear about the €116 billion being invested. The Government is delivering infrastructure. Yesterday, the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, opened two new primary care centres in Coolock and County Kildare.

Tell that to those who are waiting for broadband.

There are now 110 primary care centres and there were only 40 when the party I lead took office. This morning on the way to work, I passed the new paediatric unit at Connolly Hospital.

How long did it take the Taoiseach to get in?

It is now up to its third storey. Within the next couple of weeks, the new Luas trams will arrive, making them longer.

Tell that to the people of Galway who are stuck in traffic every day.

This is about pure politics from the Deputy's perspective. We have produced Project Ireland 2040, a €116 billion plan to invest in and improve infrastructure-----

As the Taoiseach has only 20 seconds left, he is nearly there.

Where will he be in 2040?

-----including roads, rail, health care, housing, transport and all of the really important elements. Last week, the Deputy wished to speak about process but this week, he wants to talk about the public information campaign.

Fake news.

The one thing he does not want to do is speak about the issues.

I asked very straight questions and have been asking them of the Taoiseach for the past three to four months, long before the publication of any national development plan. The strategic communications unit is about the promotion of the Taoiseach's good self and his party. That is the point. It is unprecedented. There are 15 staff in the unit. I asked the Taoiseach a very simple question about Fine Gael election candidates appearing in Government advertisements paid for by the taxpayer. It is about the ethics of it. Will he, please, answer that question?

What is the question?

The question is about how Fine Gael candidates end up in a Government advertisement paid for by the taxpayer. It is not the function of the taxpayer to fund advertisements for Fine Gael election candidates.

Fianna Fáil Ministers used to appear in such campaigns and advertisements.

Some of them are not even Members of the Oireachtas and they are certainly not members of the Government. This is not about process; it is fundamental and goes to the heart of democracy and how our system works. The Civil Service should be completely devoid of politics. There is absolutely no way the Fine Gael website had every single item of the national development plan, chapter and verse, before the Cabinet's decision without some involvement of the strategic communications unit. To suggest otherwise defies any logical explanation. I put that to the Taoiseach last week and he has avoided that fundamental question week after week.

It is not the function of Government officials or any taxpayer-funded campaign to advance the electoral fortunes of any political party.

The Deputy's time is up.

It is about time the Taoiseach faced up to that. He has blurred the lines and is going down a dangerous route which has, ultimately, the potential to corrupt our democratic process itself. It is about time he saw that.

The answer to the Deputy's question is "No". We have already explained how this works. The communications unit entered into media partnerships with media organisations. What happens there is that-----

Have the terms been published?

-----those organisations have editorial control over content. Nobody in the unit suggested any particular person should be interviewed and nobody in the unit had any editorial sign off on the articles before they were published. Those were done by the media.

There must be sign off. It is taxpayers' money.

No, they do not.

Relax, relax.

Publish the partnership agreements.

Let the Taoiseach respond please.

It is always evident when people do not want to hear the answer because it does not suit them. The unit had no role in proposing or selecting people for interview, it did not interview anyone and it did not have final sign off on the editorial content.

They were all on the Fine Gael canvas.

That was signed off by the editors of the publications concerned.

However, it is appropriate that any sponsored content should clearly show it is sponsored content. I have emphasised that in the past and I will do so again. If someone is interviewed, as a general rule, they should be told they are being interviewed for a commercial feature.

I thank the Taoiseach. His time is up.

That is the editorial policy.

Ah, yes.

It is one thing to be getting a lecture from Fianna Fáil about this sort of thing. I refer to the national development plan advertisement.

It is an advertisement.

It is an advertisement. It says "commercial feature".

It does not say "commercial feature". It says "public information".

No, no.

What we have is a banner on the top saying "national development plan", just like we had for Project Ireland 2040.

Time is up.

It does not mention the Government of Ireland whatsoever. The first thing is a big feature, an opinion editorial with a picture of Mr. Brian Cowen. In the corner, we have a nice little picture of Deputy Micheál Martin------

It was in the Roscommon newspapers.

The Taoiseach is not in order.

-----and on the next page we have a picture of Mr. Bertie Ahern. In the one from The Irish Times, it is the same thing again.

Can the Taoiseach restrain himself from-----

There is another opinion editorial with Mr. Brian Cowen's picture and an even bigger picture of Deputy Micheál Martin. This is from The Limerick Chronicle.

Again, it says "public information" and "national development plan". There is nothing about the Government of Ireland whatsoever.

Please.

On the back of this, we have an article from the-----

No. Sorry, Taoiseach-----

There are quotes from third parties.

Taoiseach, please.

Check the line, Taoiseach.

The Deputy is not in a position to be giving lectures.

The rules of the House apply to the Taoiseach and Deputy Micheál Martin equally so please respect-----

The Taoiseach does not obey any rules.

Deputy, I do not need any assistance. I call Deputy McDonald.