Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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I welcome the Minister. A petition will go to the High Court on Monday relating to the winding up of the company running the Light House Cinema in Smithfield and it would be a terrible shame if it were to be successful. It should either be rejected or adjourned to facilitate a solution.

The Light House is an art-house facility, originally part of the heritage area rejuvenation project proposals, which began in 1995 with commercial, retail, residential and cultural elements. Part of the community gain was the cultural element, although this never properly transpired and Smithfield did not develop as envisaged. The anchor project for culture has been the Light House Cinema, which has provided a very good service to the entire city. It is the only facility of its kind on the north side of the city.

The cinema is currently operating on a lease with a developer, Mr. John Flynn, and the figure was set at €100,000 in 2008; in 2010 the lease was increased to €200,000, doubling in a very short time. It is bad to have upward only rents and leases but it is a scandal to have such a system operating in a recession. The programme for Government has a commitment to put an end to upward only rents and leases in the commercial sector. That will not be resolved at this stage but we can deal with it in future.

The State has a very substantial input into the project and €1.75 million has been provided through the Minister's Department, the Irish Film Board and the Arts Council. It would be a disaster for all that to be lost. It is difficult to see what the developer can get out of this as the facility is subject to planning conditions stipulating cultural development. It would be very difficult to close the cinema and replicate something of a cultural nature in the area that would be as productive as the cinema. The developer is already getting €100,000 per annum.

I understand NAMA is involved and there are some suggestions that pressure is being brought to bear on the developer from NAMA to increase the rent. It is an absentee landlord who is involved in the first instance as he now resides in Florida; many of the people with financial problems now live abroad. NAMA should be seeking a return on its property portfolio and part of the programme for Government is a proposal that some of the property in the agency should be released to the market. The market is currently stagnant because NAMA is sitting on vast tracts of property. The local authority or others may be interested in retail or residential properties such as this if they were on the market or if NAMA disposed of them.

Such issues can be considered but in the short term there will be a petition before the court next Monday. There is a risk that this singular cultural facility will have to be wound up and closed down and there is the investment of the State in the project running to €1.75 million to consider. We can also consider the planning commitment, established under the statutory rejuvenation project, to maintain a cultural space with associated activities. This is the flagship cultural project of the north of the city, located in the heart of the inner city. It would be a terrible shame if we were to lose it.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Costello for raising this matter. The background to the State's involvement with the Light House Cinema is that in February 2006 the then Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy John O'Donoghue, approved in principle an offer of capital grant assistance of €1 million towards the development of the Light House Cinema in Smithfield, Dublin. The project began construction in March 2007 and was officially opened in May 2008. The Department's grant was towards the fit-out costs of the project rather than construction costs. Further State funding of €750,000 for the project was provided from the Cultural Cinema Consortium comprising the Irish Film Board and Arts Council.

The capital funding for the Light House Cinema was provided from the Department's capital development subhead for arts infrastructure. The purpose of this capital development is to support the further development of arts and culture in Ireland. Integrated arts centres, theatres, museums, cinemas and galleries as well as arts studios and other creative and performance spaces have been provided with funding. This capital funding has been widely acknowledged as a significant intervention in the provision of quality cultural spaces throughout the regions.

Anyone who has visited the Light House Cinema will agree that it fits into the category of a quality cultural space and has been an important addition to the cultural life of Smithfield in particular and Dublin in general since it opened nearly three years ago. The cinema has four screens with 600 seats and presents a diverse and individual programme of the best Irish, independent, foreign language, arthouse and classic cinema. It is important that as many types of cinematic tastes as possible are catered for in a large city such as Dublin and the Light House Cinema has played an important role in delivering this film diversity.

Film and film making is of great value to Ireland, financially and as a cultural asset. As part of this whole process, quality outlets such as the Light House Cinema are required to show the completed film product. There is now more than ever greater global competition in securing film and television productions. Ireland continues to hold its own, thanks to the work of the Irish Film Board, our impressive talent pool of directors, writers, actors and technical crews and the various supports on offer. This support manifests itself through various mechanisms, including the section 481 tax incentive for film and television production in Ireland, which, as announced recently, is being extended until the end of 2015.

The audiovisual sector plays an important part in Irish society in economic and cultural terms. Film, as part of the audiovisual medium, is an area in which Ireland continues to excel, as evidenced by the success of Irish productions which secured numerous awards at international level in recent years. Such productions include the films "Once", "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and "Garage", all of which were shown in the Light House Cinema.

I hope the Light House will remain open and will do as much as possible to ensure it does. Obviously, I must await the outcome of the High Court hearing next week. In that regard, the Office of the Chief State Solicitor has been informed and is examining the relevant legal documents. It is important to acknowledge that the State's investment is protected through a charge on the property. This charge allows that if the Light House ceases to operate from the premises in Smithfield in the first five years of its operation - as it opened in 2008, we are well within the five year window - the Minister can choose either the repayment of the State grants or can agree with the Cultural Cinema Consortium which would occupy the building for the remainder of the lease in order that the premises will remain in use as an arthouse-cultural cinema centre.