Ms Birch Hamilton:

Historically, when we have approached the Department dealing with the arts about the challenges artists have, such as copyright or matters relating to the Competition Authority, it would say it was dealt with in a different section. A strategic Bill would deal with many issues, most of which involve copyright and buyout contracts. As Mr. Kavanagh said, it also involves implementing EU directives to their full capacity and ensuring artists are remunerated properly for their work. If we had a status of artists Bill we could put in place many things such as ensuring artists get cable retransmission rights. It would be a good idea to have one cohesive vision because we have found that there are a great many different departments, including the Competition Authority, and they need to be brought together. A film director making "Vikings" in Ireland would earn up to 80% less than they would in the US because of the inability of Ireland to implement full EU measures on copyright for directors. Many things would increase the sustainability of artists' income and would yield a return to the Exchequer, which would also help the sustainability of artists.