Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 January 2026
184. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Social Protection the total sums spent for each year from 2016 to 2025, inclusive of advertising, by his Department on social media or online platforms, including identifying separately payments to influencers on such platforms; and to set out the annual totals for that period to each specific platform, including but not limited to major platforms (details supplied). [4861/26]
View answerMy Department administers more than 140 separate schemes and services, which affect the lives of almost every person in the State. We are committed to ensuring that members of the public are aware of the welfare supports and services available, and that key changes are communicated to them. Public information campaigns, including advertising on digital and social media platforms, are an important part of this work.
Please see below in tabular form the total sums spent by my Department, inclusive of advertising, on social media platforms in the years 2021-2025. The total cited per year represents the total expenditure invoiced and paid within each year – this may include work undertaken in the previous year but not invoiced until that year. Please note that these figures exclude VAT, ASAI, and agency fees.
|
Year |
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) spend |
X (previously Twitter) spend |
LinkedIn spend |
TikTok spend |
Snapchat spend |
Total social media spend |
|
2021 |
€108,305.61 |
€29,242.31 |
€3,093.98 |
Nil |
Nil |
€140,641.90 |
|
2022 |
€66,364.82 |
€21,271.55 |
€8,978 |
Nil |
Nil |
€96,614.37 |
|
2023 |
€126,219.99 |
€44,997.52 |
Nil |
€3,108.00 |
Nil |
€174,325.51 |
|
2024 |
€168,383.15 |
Nil |
€28,037.70 |
€1,349.41 |
Nil |
€197,770.26 |
|
2025 |
€212,938.76 |
Nil |
€90,843.03 |
€26,181.63 |
€11,399.32 |
€341,362.74 |
A detailed breakdown by platform is not available for the years prior to 2021. However information on spend in those years is as follows:
• The total sum spent on social media in 2016 was nil; in 2017 this was €15,500 and in 2018 this was €4,828.52. These figures exclude VAT, ASAI, and agency fees.
• The total sum spent on digital media (including programmatic advertisements and ads with Google, Video on Demand (VOD) including YouTube, Meta, X, Snapchat and TikTok) in 2019 was €184,919, and in 2020 this was €396,785. These figures are inclusive of VAT and agency fees.
The total sums spent by my Department on advertisements with Google, inclusive of search advertisements, display media, YouTube and the display and video 360 platform (DV360), are provided in tabular form below for the years 2021-2025. Please note that these figures exclude VAT, ASAI, and agency fees. This data is not available for the years prior to 2021.
|
Year |
Google advertising spend |
|
2021 |
€76,628 |
|
2022 |
€48,548 |
|
2023 |
€107,037 |
|
2024 |
€84,743 |
|
2025 |
€91,937 |
I can confirm that my Department has not engaged with or made payments to any social media influencers as part of our campaigns.
