Susan O'Keeffe (Labour)

In that sense, he had great vision.

We are at a moment when we need great vision again. We are in the 21st century when technological changes in the film industry will drive it ever further. The area of CGI effects, for example, is one in which we should invest and ask whether Ireland can become good at CGI and a place to come to for post-production.

The film industry is not simply about making the wonderful films to which the Minister referred and we all remember. Indeed, I am old enough to remember "The Quiet Man". In recent times, we have had the modern versions, including "The Secret of Kells", "The Door", "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" and "The Amazing World of Gumball", which won an award this week from that fine institution, the British Academy. We have come from "The Dawn" to "The Amazing World of Gumball" and there has been a lot in between. I look forward to what is coming next.

The Irish Film Board was not set up until 1980 but was subsequently disbanded for a while. The President, Michael D. Higgins, reinvigorated and re-established it. The film industry now employs approximately 5,000 people. My uncle would laugh at the idea because he was the film industry in 1938. We will look forward to a great increase in those numbers if the strategy from the Minister's Department is anything to judge by.

A dilemma facing the Irish Film Board is, ironically, the number of stakeholders involved in film which include Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, Culture Ireland, the broadcasters, Forfás, the Digital Hub and the third level institutions. There is a large network or support group involved in the film industry. The Irish Film Board is central to that but it is a bit of a dilemma for the board to have to have relationships with all of these stakeholders, which are all terribly important. However, I do not know whether that can be streamlined in some way or whether the Irish Film Board can find a way to engage with those organisations in an even more organised way than in the past.

Much of this has been built up on an ad hoc basis as people have found their own way. As my uncle would have found his own way, people have kind of stumbled around and found their way. We are now coming to a more grown up version of this industry. The onus is on the Irish Film Board to be at the heart of that. Part of that is the dedicated business development unit which will be an aspect of the Minister's strategic plan. I hope that within that business development unit, there would be scope for it to have the capacity to be the lead player in this area and that it would drive it.

A small criticism of the Irish Film Board is that it very much welcomes to itself organisations and companies funded by it. However, if one manages to gain funding from elsewhere and if one is not wearing the Irish Film Board hat, one is sort of viewed as being slightly outside the Pale. This is an anecdotal thing about which people in the film business talk. In a way, that has grown up out of where the Irish Film Board came from. The potential exists for the business development unit to take ownership of all film makers in Ireland and to represent them all. In large part, I suspect this has occurred because of the size of the Irish Film Board. It can only achieve so much and it cannot stretch beyond its own area. Increasingly, there will be an onus on it to assist, to represent and to be all-embracing of those other film makers who may not be in receipt of its funding now, although perhaps in the future.

The other thing we have learned from the film industry in Ireland is that it is remarkably resilient. It has never had a boom and that is probably a good thing because we know what booms do - they go bust. It is good that it has been steady and slow and has been built up gradually, and yet when we look back at the names of the people and of the films which have succeeded, it goes back rather a long way. As a model, it is probably a very good one.

In the west, there has been a particular emphasis on creativity and the Western Development Commission's research document stated that the nature of the work carried out in the creative sector is innately bound to the unique geography of the place. In simple terms, people go to that place because of the quality of life and the way they feel. That invites a building of creativity. There is a unique Creative West concept and I would dearly like to see that becoming part of the creative capital strategy as a very specific and stated aim of it and that it would recognise the work that has been done and the sort of graduation of people to that area. It is not that it should replace other activity; it should complement it. Creative West could be a brand that could be supported. It would obviously grow on the jobs that already exist and perhaps offer a unique sort of creativity which is very Irish and represents the best of our culture and of our heritage.

It is good to be able to talk about something so positive. Although we do not know whether there are cowboys or Indians in or outside the House, we all feel good about the Irish film industry, how it can be built up and the direction it is taking. The industry provides an opportunity to represent Ireland in a positive light, reinforces our cultural heritage and creates jobs. Most of all, it provides pleasure. The film industry and its associated areas provide pleasure for people, which is not a bad thing. It is an industry which is growing, particularly in the area of gaming and where people create their own films and try to find ways to promote them.

It is good that we are in positive position and building on that. However, we are at a point in the history of film making in Ireland where what we do in the next five years will be crucial to how we grow in a way we have not done previously. I am not advocating a boom, just steady as she goes.