Mr. James Hickey:

I will explain one thing relating to cost, which was asked about by the previous contributor. It is worth saying that indigenous television drama, even at the modest level, costs in the region of €1 million per episode to make. That gives a sense of the scale of money that is needed in terms of investment. That is why a fund of €23 million is really important in terms of what can be done. Television drama costs a minimum of €1 million per full episode. A modest feature film will cost between €1.5 million and €2 million. That is the scale of expenditure involved. These productions create significant jobs and significant numbers of people are employed on them. That is how it works.

On the question regarding calculating the levy and from where the figures are coming, Indecon produced a detailed report, which was commissioned by the committee on which I have the honour to serve and on behalf of which Ms Hamilton, Mr. McCabe and I are speaking. The report gives a detailed presentation of the alternatives and how much a levy would create. It provides alternatives based on, for example, a levy of 2%, 3% or 4%. The various figures are given in detail by Indecon and I hope all members of the committee have that report which shows exactly how much money can be raised.