Ms Karan O'Loughlin:

The likelihood that crew will want to be involved in several productions at once is minimal. While that is an issue for performers, we are not going to get continuity of employment for performers because of the nature of their work. They would be better supported through improved social protection structures. People who work as crew, however, are different. It is very unlikely that a camera operator will want to be on two productions at the same time. I accept fully that there are production companies of all sizes. As I said earlier, the nearest industry comparator is the general building industry, which consists of builders of all sizes.

Those builders still manage to hire people when they have work and have them on lay-off when they do not have work. People stay on lay-off for a certain amount of time or else they move on to other work. There are choices involved in all of that for people. In my view, and it is a strongly held view within the union, the main production should take responsibility for the workers in that way. As Deputy Boyd Barrett has said, one cannot have a "Hire 'em and fire 'em" structure because it is not good for the industry in the long run. Also, it is not good for workers to have that sort of precariousness in their lives because it causes stress, ill-health and poverty.