Mr. Andrew Lowe:

That is absolutely the case. TG4 has been proactive in engaging with the regional creative community up and down the western seaboard. There has obviously been amazing success, particularly in Irish-language film, with "An Cailín Ciúin" the best recent example. That is something of which we can all be very proud. It suggests there is hope for the new generation of film-makers who are coming through and that they might be able not only to work in their own regions but in their own language, and to reach an international audience as well as an Irish one. It is notable that Kate McCullough, who was the director of photography on "An Cailín Ciúin", won best cinematographer at the European Film Awards in Reykjavik. That is an incredible achievement but it was only one among the many awards that the film has collected. I described earlier the interaction between the inward and the indigenous and I think there is a symbiotic relationship there. The bigger international productions that come to Ireland help to support the emergence of the indigenous sector because people who are working on bigger international productions are sustained for periods of time when they might be working on their own projects. If that symbiosis is the case between international and national productions, it is also arguably the case in respect of the interaction between national and regional productions. Some projects that come out of Dublin might shoot in Galway, Clare or wherever else.

We have all learned over the past two years that the way we work can change and has changed. There are people who are choosing to live elsewhere but given the project-based nature of our business, they can work in Dublin for a specific period of time before returning home to where they are based and spending their money to support the local communities.

There is great potential but it cannot be piecemeal. There must be a long-term commitment and it must be made a priority. If there is a long-term commitment to regional uplift, we will see real benefits of that approach.