Vol. 398 No. 10
16 Mr. Nealon asked the Taoiseach if he has any plans during the remaining period of the Irish Presidency of the EC to help advance Media 92 from the pilot stage to its principle phase; if the progress of Media 92 will be on the agenda of the next Council of Ministers of Culture; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
58 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Taoiseach the steps which are being taken by his Department to maximise the resources available to Irish film distributors and producers under the Media 92 programme.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 58 (written) together.
Media 92 is a programme of action of the European Commission. In implementing it, the Commission deal directly with distributors and producers in each member state. We expect Ireland to get its full share of resources available. We have already benefited by the location here, in the Irish Film Institute, of the EVE project under Media 92.
The Council of Ministers responsible for cultural affairs met on Friday last, 18 May 1990, under the chairmanship of Minister of State, Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn. An ad hoc group to bring Media 92 from its pilot to principal stage has now been established under the Irish Presidency. As a result of this development, it is now expected that the programme will be adopted before the end of the year.
I am disappointed to hear that the Taoiseach himself did not preside at the Ministers of Culture meeting last week.
They probably are too.
The Commission is a very important body and has been responsible for £0.25 million in direct grants to the Irish Republic and to Irish individuals. Have we moved from the pilot area to the major area, and if so what kind of budget has been given? There was a mention that the proposed budget was £250 million ECUs. Has that been agreed at the Council of Ministers of Culture or whoever is responsible for it?
It has not actually moved from the pilot stage to the principal stage yet, but an ad hoc group has been established to effect that transfer. Therefore we can expect now that it will so move. The budget is £250 million ECUs over a five year period.
We now proceed to deal with questions nominated for priority.
