The Government's office of press and public relations is to be given a new focus following a review of how it operates.

Head of the Civil Service Stanley Oliver said a number of recommendations made in the review would be implemented to make Government Information Services (GIS) more effective and open.

He said yesterday that the department had a number of vacancies, including director, graphic artist, photographer and public affairs officers, and said once the jobs were filled, changes would be put into place.

He said: "There are opportunities where GIS can serve the Government and the community to a higher degree, because I think there are lots of excellent things that Government is doing which are not always communicated to the media. "Hopefully, as we build on the staff in this department, it will be a lot more helpful. We do want to share in what we are doing and in some of the instances we are not.

"We want the Civil Service to be open - most definitely. Why wouldn't we? There are a lot of things that people need to know about, and I think everyone can function well on it.

"If people don't know things, it only leads to suspicions and misinformation. We don't want misinformation. There has been a review of the department and we are looking to implement recommendations of that review."

However, Mr. Oliver would not elaborate on what those recommendations were or when they would be implemented.