Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

I welcome the Minister. I am slightly confused but rather delighted by the lack of opposition, both physically and mentally. This is a technical Bill which allows the Minister's Department to make available money to the Irish Film Board should it need to do so. It raises the amount from €200 million to €300 million. I am sure the Minister would like to have the money his pocket to hand out but it is a sign of the Government's intent to continue to support the very good work the Minister discussed in the roll of honour he gave today. It is always great to have a moment to reflect on the successes we have had.

By happy accident, I would like to pay tribute to a Kerryman, Tom Cooper, who made the first feature film in Ireland called "The Dawn" in 1938. Tom Cooper understood the idea of vertical integration because he wrote it, produced it, directed it and acted in it. All his friends did too. It was a fine example of that sort of entrepreneurial spirit in the film industry but it was also an example of choosing that mechanism to discuss history, as my colleague, Senator Bradford, discussed. He could have gone into politics and talked about the legacy of the Civil War but instead he chose a very unique way to tell that story. It had resonance not only in Kerry but beyond.

I would like to say how proud I am that Tom Cooper was my uncle. As a very young child - I must have been shorter than the table - there was a public showing of "The Dawn" in his hotel in Killarney and lots of adults flocked to it but did not notice the small child underneath the radar. I had absolutely no idea what the film was about because it was far too complicated for me but it had those sort of shaky black and white images which had a serious impact on me.

Tom Cooper showed an enormous entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to do something that was completely outside the norm at that time. Indeed, he went on to have the first multiplex cinema in Ireland, long before the idea of having more than one cinema in the same place had been thought of.

I am sure Tom is with us today as we talk about the success story that is the Irish film industry. He would be smiling and possibly sitting in the Minister's chair if he was here trying to organise and drive the film industry further.