FOR Udaras na Gaeltachta job creation is no problem. Funding is a matter of course. In fact the major difficulty facing Udaras is finding factory space in which to base companies, according to Mr Ruan O Brie, chief executive of the semi state body, releasing details of the 1996 end of year figures at the authority's headquarters in Furbo, Co Galway, yesterday.

Announcing a record increase in employment for the second year in a row, with 604 new Gaeltacht jobs being created during 1996, Mr O Brie said the authority had received a surprising boost in funding for the year which had left it in the unusual position of suffering from a floor space shortage.

"In all, the Gaeltacht received approximately £9 million from EU funding sources, as a result of continued emphasis placed by the Udaras on promoting strategies with a European dimension," said Mr O Brie.

"Of our total building space available for business, 90 per cent is fully occupied and so the funding will go particularly towards resolving this," he said.

Independent television and video production companies in the Gaeltacht now total 26, providing just under 300 jobs. Half of all independent companies are based in Connemara.

However, Udaras said there was a problem in that other Gaeltacht areas were not responding to the opportunities in TV and video.

"We have been beating the bushes trying to get the message across to counties like Kerry and Mayo that people there too can invest in setting up their own production companies to supply the enormous audio visual market that exists right around Europe, but the response has been disappointing," said Udaras head of information, Mr Padraig O Haolain.