Vol. 457 No. 3
84 Mr. S. Brennan asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the current position regarding Statcom and funds of £2.5 million allocated for film training; whether any meetings of the monitoring committee have taken place; the membership of the monitoring committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15289/95]
STATCOM was established under section 16 of the Irish Film Board Act, 1980, and is charged with the task of removing all remaining obstacles to the full development of the Irish film industry over time. STATCOM is chaired by the Chairperson of Bord Scannán na hÉireann and comprises representatives of my own Department, RTE, FÁS, Forbairt, the IDA, Údarás na Gaeltachta, An Bord Tráchtála, Bord Fáilte and An Chomhairle Ealaíon.
One of the prority activities of STATCOM was to commission research from FÁS on the training requirements of the independent film and television production sector in Ireland, entitled "Training Needs to 2000" which I launched on 21 June last. This research has prompted the establishment of a National Training Committee for Film and Television under the auspices of FÁS. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that this Committee will have at its disposal the services of a full-time industry training specialist as well as a dedicated training fund. This fund comprises some £2.58 million which I have secured for film training under the Operational Programme for Industrial Development in the period up to 1999, together with FÁS mainstream funding of £250,000 per annum, subject to demand.
I am not in a position at this stage to indicate the membership of the national training committee, as FÁS is still awaiting some nominations to the committee. I can, however, inform the Deputy that the committee will have an independent chairperson as well as nominations from IBEC, ICTU, FÁS, RTÉ, Bord Scannán na hÉireann, Teilifís na Gaeilge, Udarás na Gaeltachta, my own Department and the Department of Education.
I expect FÁS to be in a position to announce the full membership of the national training committee within weeks, after which the committee will commence its deliberations. Only then will the committee commence a drawdown from its training fund. I see the committee's deliberations as being crucial to the achievement of my objective that the significant range of incentives which I have put in place for the development of the Irish film industry will result in the maximum use of Irish personnel at the very highest levels of the film and television production functions over time.
