The invention relates to an arrangement and method for the production of photomasks, whereby at least one defect control system is connected to at least one repair system via a stationary data link or an on-line link and the defect control system and the repair system are connected to each other data-wise in such a way that results obtained on one of the systems are directly available for reprocessing on the other system. The defect control system transmits defects, which are determined, to the repair system via a data link for data exchange. Said repair system controls the repair process according to the defects thus determined. An AIMS is advantageously provided as a defect control system, in addition to an electron beam system for defect control.