Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the members for the range of questions they have asked, all of which are relevant. I will start with Deputy Ó Fearghaíl's questions. As regards the Arts Council funding, the reduction in Arts Council funding was not commensurate with funding in other areas. I deliberately protected the Arts Council funding because of its important contribution to the rest of the country. There is a very good production by the Arts Council which shows the level of grant in 2012 and also the distribution of those grants across the country. I would strongly advise people to look at that because it shows the regional distribution and also the recipients of the grant. Having been involved in organisations that benefited from Arts Council grants in the past I appreciate their relevance and the fact that without Arts Council funding there is no doubt that organisations would go out of existence. For those reasons I deliberately supported additional funding for the Arts Council last year that was not commensurate with the reductions in other areas. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl will see that reductions in the past two years were considerably less than those in the previous years. That was a deliberate policy on my part.

As regards the governance of centres, we discussed that previously and the Deputy raised it in the Dáil. I agree with him. My officials, having responded to what the Deputy said, are examining ways to bring in, along with the Arts Council, the main recipients of Arts Council funding, especially the centres throughout the country, to examine their governance and determine whether we can provide them with a more sustainable approach. We can also advise them on programme and staffing arrangements and how they can use schemes such as JobBridge to ensure their survival and sustainability for the future. That will happen. I will let the Deputy know when it is on, and he or any other member is welcome to attend.

Regarding the film industry, it is similar to the Arts Council in that I give the money to the Arts Council and the Arts Council spends it. That is the way it should be. It is at arms length from me and I cannot influence it in any way. In that sense, I may have had more influence with the Arts Council before I became a Minister than now, because I cannot even make a recommendation. That is the way it should be. That is the arms-length approach that we copper-fastened in this committee room some time ago when the 2003 Bill was being debated. It is the same principle with regard to the Irish Film Board.

The Deputy asked about the number of productions that were helped over the line because of section 481 and funding from the Film Board also. Projects such as "The Vikings", a television drama series, realised approximately €23.5 million. The series was received very well in America and it is back again for a further series. "Ripper Street" yielded €11 million for Ireland. It was supported by the Irish Film Board and by section 481. The production is back in Ireland, having completed last year's series. Another series, "Quirke", was very successful also. It had a smaller budget of €7.3 million overall but was still very successful.

The animation industry is thriving and what is happening in it is very exciting. For example, an investment of €6.6 million was made in series three of "Roy", which has been very well received. Also, films such as "The Guard", which was very successful, would not have been made but for support from section 481 and also from the Irish Film Board.

The film board has been quite successful despite the fact that it is on reduced funding. It probably finds it difficult to compete with Northern Ireland because Northern Ireland can put up more capital funding. That was demonstrated by the fact that Northern Ireland won the Dracula project over us despite the fact that there would have been a desire to make it here. At the same time, with the limited funding available to us, we are funding some very good films. One example of a very small film that was made in my part of Ireland was "Pilgrim Hill", which was about rural isolation. It was made for €5,000. It got additional development funding from the film board of approximately €10,000 and it has realised a considerable amount of money at the box office. It has done very well and has outperformed films that probably had investments of €1 million. The film board is supporting smaller productions also, which is only right.

We are working closely with Limerick City Council towards resolving the problem with the Belltable. I hope we will get a resolution because the Belltable will be very important in Limerick next year when it will be the City of Culture. It would be ironic if one of the City of Culture's prime attractions remained closed. There are other issues with the Belltable of which members may be aware. For example, there is a noise issue, but it is hoped those matters can be resolved.

Deputy Nash asked a number of questions, including a particular reference to the outturn in 2012 compared to the increase in 2013 under subhead A2, non-pay costs. Actually, the provision for non-pay costs in 2013 is less than the allocation in 2012. I expect to find savings again in 2013, and therefore I expect that the outturn in 2013 will not be higher than the 2012 outturn. In other words, savings were made.

This year's provision was less than last year's provision but the outturn was lower. We hope to make further savings this year.