Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

I visited the site at least twice in the three months since I took office to see Media Lab and the digital hub. I am aware of the clubhouse and the work done there. We brought Mrs. Kofi Annan to visit it and she was impressed by the activity there. That continues as does the Government's commitment to it which will remain in place.

In the files covering its five years of existence and the departure of four chief executive officers, there is no item to suggest that this was raised in the House or that people called for the closure of Media Lab as a result of what was happening there. Nobody raised any serious concerns about it.

It was a five-year experiment which was due to be reviewed in 2005. That review began in 2004 because at that stage, three of the chief executive officers had moved on. There were difficulties of which the Department was well aware. It asked the company to produce its strategic plan which it did three or four months later in the middle of 2004. Officials in the Department, and my predecessor, regarded the plan as inadequate. Experts were brought in whose report came to me shortly after I entered the Department.

There was a general commitment to making this work and we did all we could to reform Media Lab as it was, to give it an extra lease of life and continue but that was not possible. That is the basis of our decision. We are still committed to and believe strongly in the concept of research into digital media. We will try to put something different but related to digital media research into that area.

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