Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 December 2020

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht

Impact of Covid-19 on the Film and Television Industry: Discussion

Mr. Stuart Switzer:

I will deal with the content levy first. It is interesting and it is part of the directive. It could be really good news for the industry. What we are concerned about from what seems to be indicated in the announcement today is that it could be as late as 2025 before the statutory instrument is put in place to make the levy a possibility. There is a question about the media commission and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, morphing into that organisation. This is really important. The people who would pay this levy, and some of the major streamers, present an opportunity for our members but they are also a threat to our industry. To balance the opportunity with the threat, it would be good to introduce that levy sooner, which would fund our industry to compete and make content for those streamers. That is vitally important. This could be the touch paper that would help our producers in film, drama and across factual television become significant contributors.

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