Ms Liz Murray:

A total of 90% is paid up front. We do not quite know how it works. A production or development loan of up to €1 million can be obtained from the film board. This has to be paid back on the first day of shooting of the film as I understand it. I believe compliance is determined when the film DVD is delivered to the Revenue Commissioners with all of the accounts. I am not sure how the Revenue Commissioners can ensure it is all perfectly okay. This raises a major issue. The phrase "stand down" is used in the industry. If I lose my job after 20 years I am stood down. Many of my members were stood down in August and November 2018. That particular employer did not make another production until December 2019. These people had been stood down for one year and four months by that time. The employer did not re-employ them. He blacklisted them. I went to the Workplace Relations Commission which told me we were statute barred because these people should have taken a case on the day they knew it had happened. People did not know it had happened because there was no termination letter. Really and truly, we should be able to determine compliance after the six month time period for prosecuting a case runs out.