Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The short answer is that speaking personally, I would be concerned. As Chou En-lai said about the French Revolution, it is a bit too early yet to know. The recommendation to which the Deputy refers has not even yet been reached by the interdepartmental committee and it will consider it. I am happy that the Minister, Deputy Deenihan, has agreed to my request that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland would be represented on that committee.

There are obvious possibilities for Ireland in the creation of employment in the creative industries and in the broadest sense of the term, audiovisual. We have plenty of creative people and I would like to see that sector continue to develop. However, the Sound and Vision fund has a particular purpose and it is not my disposition at this stage anyway, to contemplate changing it.

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