Mr. Michael O'Keeffe:

It is a competitive grant award system. One of the things we have tried to do during the past number of years - this relates to the Comptroller and Auditor General's point about us trying to ensure that we achieve all the objectives - is to prioritise certain areas. In 2012 we would have prioritised animation, children's programming, drama and those types of projects. The nature of the scheme means that the broadcasters are familiar with the types of programmes that are likely to be successful, and they will be in the cultural area. We are supporting culture through that.

We are looking at ways of supporting some of the objectives that are not as fulfilled as others. In the case of documentary, history, heritage and contemporary society programmes, there is a strong input from broadcasters, but there is less input from them in some of the other areas. As we review each round, we try to actively support programmes that support genres that are less popular than others, and that is something we will continue to do on an ongoing basis.