Mr. John Purcell:

With regard to the impact of hundreds of international stations being available via digital platforms, we are confident that we can continue to compete with those stations as long as we continue to provide a service that is localised, relevant and responsive. However, this ties into the sustainability of the market in respect of our activities. Mr. Collins may discuss the fund to support public service broadcasting in more detail, but I can state that since the previous occasion on which we appeared before the committee, we developed a very detailed proposal for such a fund, which we presented to the previous Minister in February. We did so in the aftermath of discussions with him over a number of months. We took on board his reservations and those very understandable reservations voiced by those concerned with regard to the allocation of public money to private companies, and designed a fund to take account of these. I understand members may have already received copies of the information document relating to the fund.