Mr. James Hickey:

A very successful example in the regions is the Western Region Audiovisual Producers, WRAP, fund, which is a fund that operates in Galway and the surrounding nine counties in that regional area. Based on a relatively modest level of expenditure, something like €24 million in value was created in the region with 1,100 full-time equivalent jobs created. The WRAP fund is operating in the west of the Shannon region. It had total funding of €2.5 million, so €24 million of production activity in the area is a great contribution back to that region and shows how successfully regional investment can work.

I will come back to the Deputy on what other European Union countries are doing in this regard.

France is always mentioned as the first example. It has a 5.14% levy. These levies are all imposed on the turnover of the service providers in the country concerned. Therefore, in France, that 5.14% levy is imposed on all those services delivering content to French audiences and it is based on what those audiences pay in subscriptions to the companies providing those services. Germany has a levy of 1.8% to 2.5%, Poland has a 1.5% levy, and other countries are considering such levies now because much of this activity in the implementation of the AVMS directive is ongoing.

It is also important to mention that countries are introducing not only levies but also investment obligations. It is not a case of a contribution being made to a fund which is then administered but where companies are required to invest in particular types of production. Those investment obligations are applied throughout Europe. France, for example, has an investment obligation associated with subscription services such as Netflix of 20% to 35% of turnover in France. Everybody can see the figures involved are substantial. France is undoubtedly a leader in this area and it is undertaking these measures in an extraordinarily effective way. Investment obligations in other countries, though, include a 12.5% investment obligation in Italy and a 5% investment obligation in Spain, while Portugal has opted for a levy of 1% and an investment obligation of 4%. An investment obligation rate of 6% is being discussed in the Netherlands.

Complications accompanying investment obligations include the necessity to define the kind of programming in which people will invest money. The challenge, of course, in Ireland, because we speak English, is that the investment obligation is harder to define. Hence, an effort is being made now to suggest that a levy is the best Irish approach in respect of the mutual options allowed in the AVMS directive. We are allowed to do two things under the provisions of the directive, namely, impose levies and specify investment obligations, and each member state is working out the best way to do that. It is hoped, with what we are proposing, that we are at the beginning of ensuring we at least introduce a levy based on turnover. To answer the question posed by Deputy Fitzpatrick, there are examples to be found throughout Europe of how this is being done and the Indecon report commissioned by this group gives a very detailed and exact explanation of how much is to be levied, what is being levied and how the whole process should be operated.