Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I also want to acknowledge the long-standing interest he has in this sector and all the work he has done on it. As he said, the changes we have made on the application for section 481 relief are significant and were designed to respond to the issues we debated during the passage of the previous two Finance Bills. If we look at the conditions laid down in the documentation necessary to gain this relief, they have to be met by the producer company and the qualifying company. If a producer company does not comply with the employment and skills development requirements set out by the Minister, it will not be eligible for the corporation tax credit, and any amount already claimed may be recoverable with interest. These conditions were introduced through the film regulations of 2019 and I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that to date no case for a clawback of the tax credit has been triggered by a failure to meet the requirements to adhere to employment legislation.

Therefore, that clawback has not happened so far. I do, however, maintain an active interest in this area and I have been following what has been happening in the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. As the Deputy knows the commission did issue an audit of the practices that are under way in the film and television production industry to look at issues of industrial relations, employment practices and procedures. It was only in August that it published the outcome of its audit. They made four recommendations, the first of which is relevant to the debate the Deputy and I have had in recent years. It calls for an agreement to be negotiated by principal parties for their members, which would address the issues the Deputy has referred to of pay, terms of conditions such as hours of work, per diems, travel time, overtime, sick leave and pensions. I understand there is a negotiation now under way on that agreement and I am informed the expectation is that that agreement will be finalised later on this year. It is then up to the different parties to decide whether they want to accept that agreement. It does, however, appear to me that the reaching of an agreement in those areas which would have at least the potential to be adopted as an industry norm, could make significant progress on the different matters the Deputy has raised with me. I do not suggest the work that has happened at Finance Bill level is the cause of this work but it has been an important catalyst to ensuring there is a focus on the kind of standards that are appropriate when a tax credit of this value is being claimed. Therefore, if we have an opportunity to debate the Finance Bill next year, and I hope we do, I hope that if that agreement is reached and then implemented, the Deputy will see progress on the issues he has referred to.