Ms Barbara Galavan:

I am the CEO of Screen Producers Ireland and I am joined by my colleague Ms Lesley McKimm, a partner in Newgrange Pictures, an independent production company and producer of films including "My Name is Emily" and television programmes including "Designing Ireland". Ms McKimm is also chair of Screen Producers Ireland's film and television drama committee. We are delighted to be here on behalf of Screen Producers Ireland to discuss the Culture 2025 framework.

Screen Producers Ireland is the national representative organisation of independent film, television and animation production companies. Our members produce programmes including "Vikings", "Ripper Street", "Penny Dreadful", "The Voice", "Room to Improve", "Red Rock", "Ros na Rún" and "BB agus Bella". They have also produced Oscar nominated films like "Room" and "Brooklyn". SPI promotes the growth and sustainability of a working environment conducive to a strong independent production sector for its 130 members. A forthcoming report will provide definitive numbers on employment in the sector, but it will give the committee a sense of the scale of the industry to note that "Penny Dreadful" alone employed 1,200 cast and crew over the course of the production last year. This is more people than are currently employed in Ireland by Facebook. In addition, the combined expenditure in Ireland by "Penny Dreadful" and "Ripper Street" in the production period was over €50 million. These numbers illustrate the importance of fostering the right ecosystem to nurture the creative talent that can attract big-budget productions.

Screen Producers Ireland welcomes the Culture 2025 framework policy. The aim of this report to put culture at the heart of our lives is a laudable ambition. We see ourselves as an important part of Ireland's creative sector and consider that we play an important role in preserving Ireland's rich cultural heritage. How can the Culture 2025 framework positively impact the Irish audio-visual sector? As drafted and as has already been said, the framework document is very broad. We understand that it is to be followed by a cross-sectoral plan, which we welcome. The plan must be more specific if it is to have a tangible, positive impact on our sector. What would make a big difference to the audio-visual sector would be a single vision. The sector is fragmented and a single cohesive vision is missing. Culture 2025 provides the perfect catalyst for the creation of this vision. If it were included, the Culture 2025 process would be the perfect opportunity to foster an all-industry approach to developing a strategy towards sustainable growth which would assist companies to scale up. Bringing relevant Departments and stakeholders together to design and agree a vision would provide a tangible benefit to the audio-visual sector from Culture 20205.

We take this opportunity to point to some practical and immediate measures the Government could take to support growth. Between 2008 and 2014, capital funding for the Irish Film Board was reduced by 40%. The Irish Film Board's €11.5 million is significantly less than the amount available to the Northern Ireland Screen agency. Northern Ireland Screen's annual investment in production is approximately €16.5 million and this is to cover a significantly smaller territory. We are calling for the reinstatement of the Irish Film Board's grant to €20 million per annum. It is also imperative that policy makers understand the importance of our public service broadcasters to the sector.

Strong public service broadcasting leads to a strong indigenous production sector. The two are intrinsically linked. Broadcasters are incubators for talent. Without strong public service broadcasters, Ireland will fail to develop new companies that can compete internationally. The current television licence fee structure based on television ownership is outdated and no longer fit for purpose. It must be changed to address evasion and the impact of new technology on consumption patterns. A household media charge would eliminate television licence fee evasion and ensure that our public service broadcasters had a stable funding base. We are not looking for an increase in the burden on households but rather for sensible reform of a system that is no longer fit for purpose or reflective of modern media consumption habits. We support the introduction of household-based media charge. While we know it may not be a popular subject, to continue to ignore the issue is allowing a much bigger problem to develop. We urge the committee to recommend the charge to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

Section 481 is Ireland's film and television tax incentive. It is vital that Ireland continues its long history of maintaining a tax incentive for production. Without it, Ireland's production sector would simply not exist. Improvements have been made in recent years which have been welcomed by all but there is a need now to extend section 481 beyond 2020. Productions require very long lead times and without the guarantee that a tax incentive will be in place beyond 2020, incoming productions may decide to locate elsewhere.

There is no doubt that despite the funding cuts and the difficult economic circumstances which the indigenous production sector has experienced, it remains a vibrant industry. It is Ireland's window to a worldwide audience, contributes to the message that Ireland is open for business, provides valuable high-end employment and plays a significant role in attracting tourism. Culture 2025 is an opportunity to help the sector to progress to the next level. This can be achieved by including the creation of a vision for how we see the Irish audio-visual sector growing and by deciding on an all-industry approach that allows the sector to achieve its full potential. This must be included in the cross-sectoral plan which we understand will follow the framework document.