The glamour of making television. Setting up your own production company to create great comedies and thoughtful documentaries before watching the cash and awards roll in, writes Shane Hegarty

Screen Producers Ireland has more than 200 independent production companies on its books. For its latest round of commissioning RTÉ received 712 programme ideas. TG4 draws from a well of 70 independent companies. A lot of people want to make television, whether it's a light-hearted discussion show such as The Panel or a hit drama such as Bachelors Walk or The Clinic.

Yet it is not an easy business to survive in. Despite, and maybe because of, RTÉ's increasing use of independent companies the sector is competitive, unreliable and highly reliant on the patronage of a single broadcaster. It might be a great boost to get a documentary in the True Lives series, but it's tough to make a living from one-off films. Even those who land a series can find it difficult to build on their success, and the nature of the industry means you can be flying high one season and off the radar the next.

Steve Carson, whose Mint Productions was responsible for the recent series Unit 8 and Making Babies, as well as Legal Eagles, which began this week, remains genial even as he describes the tough environment. There isn't a Monday morning, he says, when he doesn't come into the office and wonder if he should be doing something a little more traditional for a living. "I go in most mornings feeling sick. There's either difficulties with a programme we're working on or we're wondering where the next one will come from."

Carson, who is partner, in life and business, of the Prime Time presenter Miriam O'Callaghan, says that going into independent production after working for the BBC meant making financial sacrifices with little guarantee of success. And despite Mint's recent visibility it is not a big company. "People expect us to be a big operation, when until recently it was one room with five phones." It is also a seasonal business. "You sow the seeds in September, hope they grow in May and harvest like billy-o in summer."

Within the industry there are fears that rising production costs are not being matched by rising budgets. TG4 is attracting particular attention: according to Screen Producers Ireland, production companies in the Gaeltacht are shedding jobs, and unless TG4 is given additional funding to expand its Irish content, it says, the quality of its programming and the future of some of the 70 companies supplying it could be under threat.

"It's remarkable how some of them eke out an existence. It is not a fruitful business," says Larry Bass, chairman of Screen Producers Ireland. "There has been a dramatic effect in the last 12 months, and we're aware of a number of companies who have ceased to operate, as some of those in smaller companies have decided to go and take up jobs. Of course that happens in every industry. Some companies grow and others fall. It'll always be the way. But there are not a dramatic number of new companies servicing TG4. There's no growth."

The independent documentary-maker Philip King has spoken of the sense of "working for the cause" that allows some companies to work to their financial limits when supplying TG4. The station has certainly led the way in terms of making good programmes for less money, but Bass says that the reliance on lower production costs must end.

"It was fine when it was launched, but you can't sustain that flow of production as the cost of living increases. It is subject to the same economy as the rest of the business world, but income has remained static, and that is the crux of the problem."

But it is to RTÉ that most companies look for commissions. In 1993 the broadcaster was essentially ordered to increase the proportion of programmes it took from the independent sector. This year 30 per cent of its output will have been made by outside companies. With TV3 commissioning little, however, competition has yet to arrive. "The independent sector in Ireland, frankly, is the dependent sector," says Bass.

This has bred resentment among producers, although given their dependency on the national broadcaster they are generally unwilling to put their concerns on the record. Some speak of RTÉ's arrogance, an unequal relationship in which producers must come doffing their caps, an uncertainty bred by constant indecision and the difficulties of providing programmes to a state broadcaster uninterested in making a profit.

RTÉ is aware of the criticisms. "We weren't happy when we were the only shop in town, and to be honest we would be much happier if there was more competition," says Clare Duignan, RTÉ Television's director of programmes. "As the main spenders it does mean that the focus of dissent is always on us. We're very aware that if we say no then it's unlikely they'll be able to bring the idea anywhere else. I think the industry has matured a lot, though, and there's more understand-ing that we have a limited amount of programmes we can commission."

RTÉ argues that it builds a profit into every commission and that it has agreed rates of pay for independent producers that are sometimes higher than in-house rates, even though some complain of being left short-changed.

Carson is happy to speak positively of RTÉ without adding any off-the-record backbiting. He says that, although there is always a "supplicant relationship", RTÉ compares favourably with the BBC, which is often "rude and dismissive of anyone who is non-BBC". He says RTÉ has "a grasp and understanding of programmes and is genuinely enthused. At the BBC you sometimes feel like you are working on programme No 8748XY."

There is the criticism that, while RTÉ producers who make bad programmes will simply be moved to another show for the next season, independent producers might not get that second chance. Duignan, however, says that the relationship between staff and outsiders has changed, as more freelancers work on short-term contracts at the station.

Although independent producers' 712 submissions to RTÉ is a hefty amount, it's actually down on previous years. The number is split unevenly between categories. There were nine submissions for comedy but 127 for history and documentaries. It is, says Duignan, a reflection of how RTÉ has put out the message that it wants more thoughtful presentations and not so many "on a scrap of paper".

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland currently has a fund of €14 million earmarked for programme making. RTÉ is as eligible as independents to apply for it, although it's likely that much of the cash will filter back to it through the independent sector anyway. Screen Producers Ireland is frustrated that the money is sitting there with no sign of application forms until February. Duignan, however, warns against flooding the market with money, as she feels that it could saturate the sector, reducing quality and having an inflationary effect.

"At the moment there is a problem with availability. Even if we wanted to commission another 20 hours of programmes we would be hard pressed to find the people. They are extremely busy." She adds that there is also the question of training, with RTÉ talking to FÁS about how to train people coming into the industry.

Perhaps the biggest complaint at the moment, though, remains the control of programme rights. Screen Producers Ireland believes that independent companies should be allowed to negotiate international rights, DVD deals and ancillaries separately, with RTÉ entitled to a share of the revenue. It is unhappy that RTÉ currently retains the rights, believing that unless independent companies have control of their own programmes they cannot increase their sources of revenue and grow financially. When Mint Productions sold an RTÉ-funded documentary on Pádraig Pearse to the Discovery Channel for €10,000, it eventually saw only €600.

Duignan denies that RTÉ sits on rights, pointing to an agreement between the broadcaster and Screen Producers Ireland in which they jointly agreed to hire a UK sales agent. While there have been some successes, such as Proof, she says that the problem for Irish television remains that it is often seen as too local to appeal to international markets, because of subject matter or even accents.

Larry Bass insists Ireland is in an excellent position to build a strong audio-visual sector: as an English-speaking country it could export programmes around the world were its independents given the opportunity.

Steve Carson has set up an office in Belfast with a view to pitching programmes to the UK, in order to stay afloat and, with luck, expand. Despite the obstacles, he is glad he works for himself. "I prefer the freedom of being an independent rather than being in-house, when you might have the cameraman and other facilities thrown at you rather than being able to choose them yourself." And he certainly doesn't want to come across as a whinger. "This is the business I have chosen, and this is just the nature of it. And while it's hard, it's not impossible."