Mr. John Purcell:

I thank Deputy Mattie McGrath for his kind words. On the funding that he talked about, the levy was waived for local stations for the first six months and the cost of that was €1 million. The sound and vision fund cost €2.5 million, which lasted about six months, and the wage subsidy scheme was in operation as well. To put those funds into perspective, a typical local radio station that is experiencing a 20% drop in its revenue at present would see a decrease of between €350,000 and €500,000 on a per annum basis. Without the wage subsidy scheme, with the levy continuing and without the continuation of a type of sound and vision fund, it will not be possible to continue to provide the kind of services about which the Deputy has spoken so well. That is why we cannot wait until the Future of Media Commission reports next year and so on.