Road Safety Authority Spends €30 Million on Media Since 2023

The Road Safety Authority in Ireland has spent approximately €30 million on advertising and external public relations since 2023. The figures were released in response to a parliamentary question, providing a detailed breakdown of payments made to three service providers over the past four years.

The agency is currently facing scrutiny due to an increase in road fatalities. The financial disclosures coincide with this period of heightened pressure on the RSA to demonstrate the effectiveness of its spending. The total expenditure covers strategic media planning, creative development, and public affairs services.

The largest portion of the budget went to a contractor named Spark Foundry. The RSA paid this firm approximately €21 million since 2023. The contract covers strategic media planning and the purchase of all advertising for the agency. Services under this agreement include 10 to 12 television-led campaigns annually, alongside secondary campaigns on social media, radio, video on demand, and display advertising.

The RSA stated that the Spark Foundry contract provides the agency with discounted rates that would not otherwise be available. The firm also manages campaign setup, optimization, and performance management as part of the service package.

A second payment stream went to the creative agency Forsman & Bodenfors. The RSA paid this company approximately €7 million since 2023 for the strategic development of creative advertising campaigns. These services included television advertisements, brand strategy, graphic design, and digital content creation.

The scope of work with Forsman & Bodenfors also included copywriting, pre-campaign research, and the management of usage rights across awareness campaigns. The agency noted that the specific topics of these services vary annually, but the nature of the work remains consistent.

The RSA also paid approximately €1.5 million to the public relations company Drury from 2023 to the present. This funding supported strategic public and media relations, public affairs, and crisis communications. Additional services included social media support, stakeholder engagement, and event management, which encompassed the agency's annual international conference.

Social Democrats transport spokesman Aidan Farrelly described the €30 million expenditure as astonishing. He noted that the RSA is an outlier among state bodies regarding communications and public relations spending. Farrelly has requested that the RSA appear before the Dáil’s Committee of Public Accounts to answer further questions on recent financial statements.

Farrelly also suggested that the committee should probe whether any of the service providers were involved in developing the now-defunct plan to install breathalysers in pubs. The RSA confirmed that all services were delivered by suppliers appointed through frameworks established by the Office of Government Procurement. The agency stated that media expenditure is subject to independent annual audit and that campaign performance is reviewed to inform future activity.