Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for their contributions this afternoon and for their contributions in keeping us all somewhat sane in recent months. TG4 has been especially successful at building a strong sense of Irish community around the world with its content that is, as far as I can gather, licence-free and easily distributed around the world. How do the witnesses see the significant opportunity that presents itself to us to connect in a more meaningful way with our diaspora through content produced in Ireland? What opportunities do the witnesses see arising for collaboration across the diaspora and how should we work to nurture and support that?

Senator Byrne referred to the issue of animation. A good friend of mine in music, Eimear Noone, who is renowned worldwide for her composing and conducting, was recently involved in a successful animation project. On the skills development that the Senator Byrne, how do we drill right down into primary schools and post-primary schools and open up the opportunities that definitely exist for young people who have a talent in that area? Through the use of technology we have seen a great democratisation of the creative process. One no longer needs to own expensive equipment to be truly creative and to have that content disseminated around the world. From the witnesses' perspectives, what should we be doing in primary and post-primary schools to support those young people who undoubtedly have these talents, who want to express them and who want to see them recognised?