Ms Maureen Conway:

We forwarded a scrapbook on the college to the committee and provided some background material on the college. We think of Ballyfermot College of Further Education as a cultural dynamo. We are part of the City of Dublin Education and Training Board, which was the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee. We have a number of partnerships with Trinity College, Dublin, the Irish Film Board, DCU, Tallaght IT, University of Dundee, Dublin Business Innovation Centre and Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts and Commerce in Lusaka.

We have 1,450 students at the college. They come from all over Ireland but primarily from Dublin and the surrounding counties. Over 50 nationalities attend the college. We are known primarily for creative arts, media and music courses. What is the significance of this? Walking into any radio station or local newspaper office in Ireland, one will find a graduate of Ballyfermot. In any television studio, including in RTE, TV3, UTV Ireland, BBC and Oireachtas television, one will find a Ballyfermot graduate. This session is probably being recorded by a Ballyfermot graduate. Work done by Ballyfermot graduates is hanging on the wall in the Taoiseach's office.

In the rock school, one of the longest established programmes, graduates include well-known names like Wallis Bird, Damien Dempsey, Mundy and Mickey Hart. Our traditional music names include David Munnelly and Alan Doherty, names that people interested in traditional music know. We do cinematography in a live-action film course. Daniel Katz was the cinematographer on "Curfew", an Oscar-winning short film.

Animation Ireland and the Irish Film Board will make a presentation, so I will allow them to talk about animation. Some 70% of animation companies started in Ireland were started by former students of Ballyfermot College of Further Education. I am open to correction but there are approximately 1,500 people employed in Ireland in the animation industry and the figure is growing. There is huge potential for further development. The figures from the 2012 Animation Ireland report indicate the animation industry in Ireland is worth €110 million to the economy and I am sure it has grown since then. It is important to understand the animation work delivered in Ireland is not mediocre but world-class. There were five Oscar nominations and one win in the past five years. There were numerous BAFTAs, Emmys, IFTAs, Annie Awards and, most recently, a Peabody. I am referring to Mr. Cathal Gaffney. Graduates are working worldwide, from New York to Paris, Los Angeles, Kilkenny and Smithfield in Dublin.

With regard to new developments and the potential for job development, some 80% of what we do at Ballyfermot College of Further Education is tied to the creative industry and the cultural industry, which includes tourism. We deliver a travel and tourism programme in the college. The tourism industry in the past has been greatly driven by cultural attachment. Great work has been done by Fáilte Ireland with the development of the Wild Atlantic Way. Anyone from the west of Ireland can attest to that and we can see the great number of tourists viewing the west coast. As someone from the west of Ireland, I can see it. People in Kerry always did well in the tourism industry. Now other counties are joining in and the further developments just announced by Fáilte Ireland in Ireland's ancient east will improve the tourism industry in the rest of the country.

The visuals from the Oscar-nominated film "Song of the Sea" are taken from the physical landscape of Glencolumbkille, County Donegal. Tomm Moore showed it to me long before the film was done. When "Ballykissangel" commenced broadcasting in the UK, huge numbers of British tourists flocked to where it was shot on location in Avoca.

I predict that more people will flock to Glencolumbkille not only to view the physical landscape but to view the cultural landscape of County Donegal.

We Irish are a very creative people. People love to come here for the cultural experience and for the landscape. Music, both traditional and contemporary, is an authentic part of Irish culture. We deliver both traditional and contemporary music programmes in Ballyfermot College of Further Education. There is significant potential for development in traditional music area, including in instrument making. Those who play traditional music find it almost impossible to find somebody in Ireland who will repair or build traditional instruments such as uilleann pipes, flutes, fiddles or harps. It is crazy that people have to travel to the United States or to Germany for these instruments. It is time to bring this skill back home to Ireland. In Ballyfermot, we are currently developing a programme to include instrument making, which would create links between the local training centre and the college. It is time this happened.

The computer games industry is relatively new in Ireland, with great potential for development on the creative side, the area in which we work in Ballyfermot. I suggest support should be provided for units or hubs attached to a college or a number of colleges to try to support small business. Perhaps small amounts of funding should be made available to companies to "fail better", as Beckett said.

Almost all visual effects are currently delivered in the United States or in Soho in London. I know that local companies such as Brown Bag and Windmill Lane work in this area. We are currently developing a programme on visual effects and we hope to commence that course in the autumn. This is a sector with significant potential. Mr. Cathal Gaffney and the Film Board will address animation. In this regard, let me say there is a lot done and plenty more to do.

We are the best storytellers in the world. Everything broadcast, be it film, television, books, blogs, newspapers, is all a story. We are masters of our craft. There is huge potential for development. Many traditional Irish crafts which are part of the authentic Irish experience have died out. It is time to revive them.

Through innovation and taking a long-term view, Ballyfermot College of Further Education has pioneered creative courses and we continue to deliver these programmes regardless. With some support from policy makers we believe we can do better in the future.