Mr. Peadar King:

I am delighted to work with RTE on this. The first programme we made was in 1999, so I have been doing this for over a decade. Like Mairéad, I acknowledge the contribution Irish Aid makes to funding this series. It has made that contribution from the beginning in 1999. I had a meeting with officials of the Irish Aid section in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade this morning to discuss funding for the next series. I hope we get it, but that remains to be seen. I also acknowledge the contribution the non-governmental organisations make to the funding of this series. Finally, we also get cross-denominational support from religious congregations, mainly Catholic but also Methodist, Church of Ireland, the Baha'i and the Presbyterian churches, to whom I spoke a few days ago. They are considering getting involved as a funder. What is really interesting is that the trade unions are now coming on board as funders. The Public Service Executive Union, PSEU, contributes to it and the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union, SIPTU, has committed to making a financial contribution to the next series. There were 58 funders of the last series. That is a strong collaboration across a range of groups who are coming together with a concern for and an interest in what is happening in the global south. I am very pleased to be part of that process, and long may it continue.