Ms Michelle Quinn:

First, I wish to acknowledge that section 481 provides significant investment in the audiovisual sector and, of course, we welcome that. We must also, however, have due regard to the sustainability of the industry. Within that comes a requirement to make the industry sustainable for all stakeholders, including those workers who participate within it.

Currently, that is not always the case, which is regrettable. It is about sustainability of the industry and sustainability for all. We need to have due regard to the maximisation of taxpayers' investment. We are all taxpayers and we all have a vested interest in ensuring we maximise that investment, for obvious reasons.

The third point, from my perspective, is we need to ensure there are quality jobs within the industry. There are a number of hallmarks of quality jobs but, sadly, at present some of those hallmarks are not visible to us and certainly not enjoyed by our members. It is a dynamic industry and section 481 plays a significant part in attracting interest on the island of Ireland, but we see absolutely no reason that our members should have to work for lesser terms and conditions than our colleagues in the Six Counties. If performers and crew are performing to the same standard, then we believe the rate of pay should reflect that. We welcome further scrutiny of section 481, its criteria and compliance with it because in order for the industry to benefit in its totality from that section it has to ensure that all stakeholders benefit.

I am not suggesting for a moment that every stakeholder would benefit equally but they should benefit proportionally. If we can do that, then our members will believe that our industry will be the richer for that and sustainability will automatically be achieved because it will continue to be a vibrant industry where we can hold our head up and say it is sustainable, and we see the benefit of section 481 and of taxpayers' money. The true measure of that will be the quality of jobs within the industry for performers and crew alike. The only true measurement of that is how our members fare.