THE Oireachtas committee on communications is to visit Ardmore Studios and the sets of The Tudors and Raw on Tuesday. The trip is being arranged by Screen Producers Ireland, which represents 180 independent producers.

The 14 committee members, who will travel together to the Co Wicklow studios on a bus, are expected to meet actors from the hugely successful Tudors series, including possibly Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and some of the cast from Raw, RTE's new drama. The meeting is to take place in the Jerry Bruckheimer suite, the Ardmore office of one of Hollywood's best-known producers.

Independent producers want the government to revisit the section of the broadcasting bill, currently going through the Dáil, that sets a €40m annual minimum spend by RTE on independent production. Over the past three years, the average spend has been around €70m.

The sector wants the €40m figure to be replaced by a sum equal to 35% of RTE's combined licence fee and advertising revenue.