Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will go beyond 10 p.m., if that is okay, because I will refer to the variety of issues that have been raised. I will respond to Deputy Boyd Barrett first, acknowledge the points made by Deputy Ó Murchú and conclude with those made by Deputy Matthews. I have taken a real interest in this matter prompted by two things. First, Deputy Boyd Barrett raised a number of issues with me, following a Finance Bill from a few years ago, that were of concern and that I followed up on, which he has been good enough to acknowledge. This resulted in changes being made to the operation of section 481 the following year. Second, I am very interested in this matter because I love our film and creative sector. I love the work it does. I have to make the case briefly for the quality of what is going on. I do not think Deputies Ó Murchú or Boyd Barrett would argue against what I am about to say but neither of them acknowledged it in their presentations to me. Some of the productions I have recently seen include "Bad Sisters", "The Banshees of Inisherin", and "The Wonder". I am not claiming that section 481 is equal to Emma Donoghue, Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell, Eve Hewson or Sharon Horgan but it is playing a role. It is playing a role in those kinds of quality productions originating from our shores that are doing so well. It helps and plays a positive role.

Looking beyond the anecdotal evidence of my own film or small screen consumption, the review of section 481, which neither Deputy mentioned, was only published in September. Deputy Boyd Barrett may have that document but he did not mention it or, if he made reference to it, it was a particularly subtle literary illusion. It did not come up. We have just done and published the very evaluation the Deputies called for. I will reference some of the conclusions and figures in it. In 2020, there were 2,655 full-time employees in the audiovisual sector who benefited from section 481. The following year that increased to 3,265. There are just under 600 more full-time equivalents in the sector who are benefiting from this. That is different from full-time jobs but, in percentage terms, it is still a significant increase versus where we were the previous year. If we look at the number of skills development participants, there were 700 in 2019, 700 in 2020 but 790 in 2021, which is another big increase. If we look at the employment levels that have taken place, we should consider the developments that have taken place in animation, the growth in that sector and the support it is getting from this scheme. These are positives in the scheme. The Deputy may accept it but he never acknowledged it.