Dr. Eddie Brennan:

I will answer some of Deputy Noel Harrington's questions and refer the issue of the division of funds to Mr. Moore.

In terms of education, the Deputy asked whether the money would be going to DIT, for example, where I am a lecturer in the school of media. One can see, of course, how there might be a relevance to channelling the money towards established trainers. As chairperson of DCTV, I am actively exploring links between the company and DIT and other colleges. There is a difficulty, however, in that what we are trying to do is facilitate engagement with media production and increase participation in media. If one offers a media course, it will appeal to people who are interested in making media. However, there might be a minority group which is concerned with representing a particular social issue, for instance, or a community group that is representing a particular sporting interest. In such cases, the primary concern is with representing that issue, not learning how to make media. By having the training funding centred on community media stations, whether radio or television, one can engage people's existing interests in the community and deliver media training in that sense. On the other hand, if we were to create silos, so to speak, for media training, a lot of people who have something important to say will not engage with that media training because it is not their primary interest. Their interest is in representing whatever their particular concern might be. I would welcome collaboration between DCTV and colleges which are delivering media training. There are already linkages with DIT and Griffith College. However, it is also important to have funding for mentoring and training which goes to the community broadcaster.

I will refer the Deputy's question on the division of funds to Mr. Moore.