Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I genuinely appreciate the Minister's engagement and his statement that he would examine this matter further if needs be. We have had an extensive debate on it. However, I will make a few final points to him.

A key aspect of quality employment and training, particularly as set out in the fixed-term workers legislation at European and national levels, is recognition of service. The Minister cannot make commitments on it now, but I ask that he and his officials examine this issue carefully. The film producers, who receive significant amounts of money year in and year out and employ largely the same people year in and year out, refuse to acknowledge the service that those workers have given them. They have done that by hiding behind designated activity company, DAC, status. In other words, they are implying that it is not them but a series of different companies when the fact of the matter is that it is the same producer companies. This essentially allows them to evade their legal responsibilities to employees. In doing so, they are in serious breach of EU directives and our national legislation. This behaviour must be clamped down on seriously.

If the Minister's officials read the submissions being made by the producer companies in receipt of section 481 relief in various cases that have been before the Labour Court and the WRC in recent times, they would see those companies explicitly stating that they are not the employers and that the DACs are.

That is in breach of the declaration they are signing and the clear intent behind the section 481 relief and the conditions surrounding it. This matter needs to be looked at carefully and those companies need to be told that what is happening has stop. It is an abuse, a failure to comply with the law and those companies must be told that they will have the section 481 relief removed from them if they continue to make those arguments.

The state aid rules also need to be examined as they apply to support to the industry. They are explicit in stating that one must build companies of scale and create a permanent pool of employment and talent in this sector. That is simply not happening at all. There is no such permanent pool for the same reason, that is, the producers do not want to accept that they have any responsibility to the people who work in the industry. I will leave it at that but I ask the Minister to look at those particular points.