Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 315:

In page 135, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “Obligation for Investment

159HA.(1) The Commission, following consultation with audiovisual media service providers, audiovisual and screen production companies established in Ireland, workers and businesses engaged in audiovisual production, Screen Ireland, RTÉ, Teilifís na Gaeilge, Foras na Gaeilge, and the public, and no later than one year following its establishment, shall prepare and publish a report examining the possibilities and suggesting recommendations for introducing direct obligations on audiovisual media service providers operating in this State, in line with the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and following the example set by policies in other Member States of the European Union, with regard to the potential impacts of such obligations on audiovisual production, consumers, workers, businesses, media service providers, and the promotion of the Irish language and Irish cultural works.

(2) The report outlined in subsection (1) shall consider in particular the potential for—

(a) requiring investment directly in the production or co-production of European works partly or wholly on the island of Ireland, works of Irish cultural expression, and works in the Irish language,

(b) requiring direct investment in the acquisition of rights for European works, particularly works of Irish cultural expression and works in the Irish language,

(c) regulating the release window for audiovisual works in the State to require a higher direct investment in audiovisual production as a condition for a shorter delay between theatrical release and the right to transmit on audiovisual platforms,

(d) any combination of paragraphs (a), (b), and (c).

(3) The report shall be laid before the Minister, Screen Ireland, both Houses of the Oireachtas and the Joint Oireachtas Committee upon publication for consideration.

(4) The Minister, following consultation with the Minister of Finance and no later than six months following the publication of the report outlined in subsection (1) shall present draft legislation before the Houses of the Oireachtas outlining proposals for the introduction of investment obligations for audiovisual media service providers.”.

Similar to amendment No. 307, this is something that is already done in other EU member states under EU law, specifically under the audiovisual and media services directive. The idea is that providers of these services, such as streaming platforms llike Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, will be required to ensure part of their revenue is invested directly into European works, Irish cultural works and works in the Irish language. France recently reached an agreement with providers in this regard, namely, the DDADUE, which will see tens of millions of euro of new investment result in cultural output in French and job creation opportunities in the process. Such rules implemented in this State would provide €10 million of investment from one streaming site alone.

We are not setting out with restrictive vision as to how such a model could be implemented in Ireland as we do not believe that we are the experts. We are instead asking that the commission meet with the stakeholders and produce a report within a year outlining options that the Department produces legislation within another six months of that with a view to implementing investor obligations. As we have spoken of at length this afternoon, we often hear of things we cannot do due to EU law. However, this is an example of what we can do under EU law. It is something that could deliver quite incredible results if we were to do so. There should not be any delay in seeking benefits for the industry, performers and audience that are enjoyed by other countries. At the very least, we should be asking for that report to be made available.