Vol. 523 No. 4
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Dáil Éireann debate - Tuesday, 10 Oct 2000
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Ceisteanna – Questions. - Millennium Projects.
2 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach if final accounts are yet available for the Messiah XXI production company, which received a substantial grant from the National Millennium Committee; the proportion of the profits allocated to a charity or charitable trust as promised at the time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20079/00]
Messiah XXI Productions Limited has formally pledged that 10% annually up to £700,000 of any net after tax profits will go to Irish charities. This sum is equivalent to the award the company received on the recommendation of the National Millennium Committee. The millennium office has been in regular contact with Messiah XXI Productions during the year in respect of this matter. The company has advised that it is focusing on the North American market and that negotiations are ongoing with a number of broadcasting and music companies. The millennium office will continue to monitor the position on an ongoing basis.
One of the conditions in the partnership agreement between Messiah XXI Productions and the National Millennium Committee in respect of the award of millennium funding is the submission of audited accounts. The company has advised that the audit on its final accounts should be available in November.
The Minister of State does not seem to be able to provide information additional to that which he placed on record last February. If he peruses the reply he gave at that stage, I am sure he will agree he has not been able to obtain such information from the company which was exploring the same segment of the North American market when the Minister of State last replied to questions on this matter. Does he agree it is extraordinary that he has not been supplied with better information, bearing in mind the enormous amount of taxpayers' money which was given to this group in the first instance?
I do not have a great deal more information to hand. However, discussions are ongoing between the staff of the millennium committee and the company in question. I understand that the subject of those discussions is the sale of broadcasting rights in the United States over the Christmas period. I also understand that the video is on sale through the public network broadcasting stations in the United States and Canada. To date, however, no contracts have been signed. I await publication of the audited accounts and the result of sales in the Christmas period which should provide a more comprehensive picture.
Does the Minister of State agree his replies are almost identical to those he provided last February? What is happening? Has the company in question registered as a charitable trust? If so, where is that trust registered and what level of sales has been achieved to date? What information does the Minister of State have in his possession? Has the company made any sales, has it obtained any revenue and, if so, is the Minister of State in a position to outline the levels of same?
I do not know any more than I have already stated.
Why not?
Because I do not know.
This question was tabled some time ago and the Department has been aware of it. Given that the Minister of State is chairman of the committee, has no one in his Department sought to ask these people what is happening?
The principal executive of the millennium office has been in regular contact with Messiah XXl Productions. No contracts have been signed. Discussions are ongoing with broadcasting companies in the United States and Canada. The video has been produced and the annual accounts are due in November. Even if the Deputy kept me here for four further hours I could not add to the information already supplied.
Does the Minister of State agree that if he was acting as a banker or investor, he would be far from satisfied with the lack of information he is giving to other investors, namely, Irish taxpayers? Why does his staff not have the answers to the questions being asked? The Minister of State is not necessarily responsible because he did not ask those questions but somebody should have asked them. If he was on this side of the House, he would be far less sanguine than I have been in relation to the poverty of the reply he has just placed on the record.
It is not the same as a grant from IDA Ireland or a similar grant. A total of 2,000 projects were given support and this is the only one in respect of which there is an ongoing relationship in respect of its funding. The other 1,999 projects received once-off grants. We could inquire about each of those projects and request to see their annual accounts, but we have not done so. It was decided that, because of the special circumstances involved, in the event that profits were made – audited accounts are necessary to discover whether this was the case – 10% up to £700,000 would go to Irish charities. That pledge still holds. However, until I receive the audited accounts I will not know the percentage of the profits which will be donated to charity. The accounts will be ready in November.
From what I have heard, I am not hugely optimistic that a large donation of funds will be made to charity. However, over 2,000 projects in total were supported and the project in question was unanimously supported by the committee because it appeared to be of interest, given its special nature and the time of year involved. The commitment to try to recoup some of the funds means that this is the only project out of a total of 2,000 in respect of which special arrangements were made.
As soon as I receive the annual accounts I will discover whether a profit has been made. There is no point in asking what is the company's current cashflow because I need to know what is the profit for the year. If a profit has been made for the year, 10% of it will go to the fund in question. If there is no profit – I would not hold my breath in terms of there being a profit – the matter rests there. I cannot provide further information until I receive the accounts in November.
This matter is of relevance to the House. Does the Minister of State agree that if I was to submit a request under the Freedom of Information Act in relation to correspondence between his Department and the group in question, I would obtain more information than has been placed on the record of the House? He has not given a single fact, other than things he has heard. The standard of the reply given by the Minister of State is not acceptable. Annual accounts are usually available in draft form in October if they are to be audited in November.
The Minister of State knows this. He is not doing a service to the House by placing this poverty of information on the record.
I will double check because my understanding is that all the information available to the Department is being made available to the Deputy in my reply. The company has appointed a sole agent for selling the production to broadcasters in the United States. It has not yet obtained contracts for TV broadcasting rights. Negotiations are ongoing and the appropriate time for televising the production of the event will be the Christmas period, given the nature of this production, and contracts are more likely to be signed between now and Christmas. That is all the information I have. I do not have a draft set of accounts. The Deputy is quite right in saying it would be normal to have one.
It must exist.
I am open to correction. I do not have a draft set of accounts but I understand one will be available in November. It may be that the company's year end is December and I will receive the November accounts as a draft. The set of accounts from outside auditors which I need, to know if the company made money will not be available to me until November. I will then gladly lay them before the House.
Question No. 3 has been withdrawn. We now move to Question No. 4.
