Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I am more in agreement with the Minister than my two colleagues on this side of the House. I ask the Minister, however, to reconsider amendment No. 105 and advertising on the film channel. Programmes broadcast on public service stations — not the core ones but stations such as TG4 and TV5 — need support. I recall the excitement when the UK's Channel 4 was established. It moved from an arts channel to "Big Brother" and so-called reality television in the most surreal environment. Film4 is a film channel showing modern and good quality films with advertising. Its advertising does not have the same format as TV3's. When one watches a film on TV3, there is an advertisement every 12 minutes which makes one lose the run of the film. Film4 has an advertisement every half an hour and it does not feel the movie is being constantly interrupted.

The Minister used the term "world" when describing the format of the film channel. I know what world music and films are but I am not sure the world does. If the same idea is used to support making local films of a cultural and artistic nature for this channel, it will need funding.

This channel will begin with large public support and the Minister will be well-congratulated. However, when the mandarins who decide how much money goes where on an annual basis get their hands on this channel, it will become like the Asgard list. Who will care if €100,000 is dropped from the channel's funding as only 5,000 people watch it, despite it being important to them and our cultural values? The Minister has proposed the establishment of an oversight body to ensure the moneys provided for the channel are properly spent within the Minister's objectives.

What is tradition? Tradition was once somebody's good idea. If someone produced a 20-minute film in Waterford 50 years ago, can someone afford to do it now? Could this money be used to support the making of local community world film-type movies? While such a mechanism may seem similar to the Arts Council, I am not suggesting we replicate this. I am thinking of films that are reflective of local culture or history but are not commercial. These would be films that would not be made by large film-makers or shown in cinemas but are nevertheless important. Would that be good enough reason for the Minister to accept Senator O'Reilly's amendment No. 105?