Was the £26,000 spent on four miniature ’fairy houses’ as part of a viral ’ambush marketing’ campaign, taxpayers’ money well spent?

That was the question asked in the House of Keys this week and, despite the government saying the publicity was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, Julie Edge (Onchan) was unconvinced.

She asked whether proper procurement processes were followed by the Department for Enterprise and expressed disappointment that an off-island organisation was paid £26,253 to build and place the four different buildings at beauty spots around the island.

But Enterprise Minister Laurence Skelly said they were a form of ’ambush marketing’, which ’aims to take the public by surprise and make an impression - this in turn creates a buzz and encourages engagement’.

It resulted in global media attention, he said.

’The estimated number of people who have read the press articles is in excess of 6.5 million,’ he added.

’Should the department have paid for such media coverage, it is estimated it would have cost £367,570.’

But Ms Edge asked why local businesses were not given the chance to take on the work, which was claimed by Swedish art collective Anonymouse MMX.

’If our own companies were doing this there would be tax and NI going into the Treasury,’ she said.

Mr Skelly said that advertising for someone to carry out the work would have negated the ambush marketing concept.

He added: ’If you take the time and actually look at these installations you will see the detail and the skill that is actually necessary to create - that is really important.

’The company that was commissioned is globally renowned in this particular space.’

He said some of the tricks used to create the buildings were a ’closely kept secret’.

He said he was sure financial regulations had been followed.

The tiny buildings have been spotted at Ballaglass Glen, Bradda Head and two in Dhoon Glen.

But Martyn Perkins (Garff) revealed his own concerns, saying at the fairy house he visited, the lights were on, but no one was in.

’They must have been out at work,’ he said. ’Being this festive time of year, I can only assume that some were in the pantomime, and indeed there are other pantomimes in town at the moment - or on a job that I would not wish to have, sitting on top of Christmas trees.

’My question to the minister is would he be able to confirm their employment status and are they paying tax and National Insurance?’

Mr Skelly, appreciating someone displaying a more positive attitude to the fairy homes, responded: ’I guess that just depends if they are elf-employed.’