Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their interesting presentations and for the amazing work they are doing. My question relates to Screen Ireland in general, but there may be an opportunity to tie it in with the issue of Creative Europe funding as well. It concerns the potential for funding small to medium-scale film and TV studios. Our guests referred earlier to the innovation programme, transnational creations and audiovisual content creation. From the fantastic brochure outlining the various projects in which Screen Ireland has been involved, it is clear much drama and television has been invested in.

I come from west Cork - the other committee members will roll their eyes to heaven because I talk about west Cork and what is going there at every opportunity I get - and some of the productions Screen Ireland has funded have been shot there. That includes "Sparrow" and "Float Like a Butterfly", which was made by Carmel Winters from just west of Skibbereen and which is an amazing film. Screen Ireland is involved in individual projects, but could that be extended such that it could get involved in, invest in and fund the setting-up of film and television studios? There is a project in Skibbereen at the moment and it has blown my mind because I had not realised west Cork was so full of film and television expertise, from art directors and designers to producers. I am not even referring to David Puttnam or Jeremy Irons; they do not even come into the equation. The expertise also includes set-makers, carpenters and artists in general, who are everywhere in west Cork. They have come together with the idea of creating a small to medium-sized television studio in Skibbereen that could take on large productions. They have just been granted planning permission to convert a furniture-manufacturing unit into a TV studio, so the building is already there. To get it up and running, however, they need funding for sound-proofing, lighting and the various other aspects that constitute a TV studio.

I am not sure whether my question fits within the parameters of Creative Europe, but I certainly think Screen Ireland should get involved in this. It is predicted that the total cost will amount to about €1.5 million for the conversion of this furniture-manufacturing unit into a studio that could take on large-scale productions from the likes of Netflix, Apple, Amazon and a range of streaming or non-streaming producers. Could funding be invested in that type of project, as opposed to just in individual films and television series?