Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In July of 2022, SCI and the ICTU Film Construction Group of Unions secured a construction agreement. This agreement encompasses up to 300 workers in the independent film and television construction sector. Among those included in the agreement are carpenters, plasterers, painters, riggers and stage hands. The agreement provides for increased hourly pay rates, overtime rates, allowances, a guaranteed working week, disputes procedures and various other industrial relations and employment provisions. Other important measures covered in the agreement include the extension of cover for pension, sick leave and other benefits to industry construction workers under the construction workers' pension scheme. In the addition, the agreement saw the establishment of a new joint monitoring structure that will help ensure the agreement is appropriately implemented.

That is an example within the industry of what can be achieved by agreement and through collaboration. If it is the case, as I understand it is, that both Irish Equity and SPI have indicated a willingness to begin discussions with a view to reaching a new collective agreement, then that is what should be done. What I can indicate from my perspective and that of my Department is that we will be as supportive as we possibly can be. I recognise what my role is, but I also recognise what my role is not. My role is not in relation to employment law, the copyright directive and the enforcement of terms and conditions. I do not have a direct role in that. This is a finance Bill. It provides for taxation provisions. It is an enabling piece of infrastructure for the industry. I am prepared to make that step because I think it is the right decision to make. We will provide whatever support we can. We will be directly involved as a Department in the stakeholder forum because I agree that there is a need for co-ordination. All of the relevant Government Departments need to work together to iron out these issues. When it comes to terms and conditions, the best way forward here is through direct engagement by the relevant parties. It is not seeking to in some way transpose a UK agreement into Irish law. I am not even sure how we would anchor that in Irish law. In any event, the Deputy will accept that it is the case that there are different views on that. We should not seek to impose that into an Irish context where I do not believe it is necessarily appropriate in all circumstances. As the Deputy is aware, we have transposed the new directive. Separate from that, we have the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 and a number of statutory instruments, most recently the European Union (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) Regulations 2021, which transpose the EU directive on copyright in the digital single market. We have that in place in Ireland.

I want to add a point on the unscripted sector. I welcome the comments by the Acting Chair and Deputy English. I reaffirm that I have requested my officials to commence discussions with the European Commission with a view to introducing a tax credit for the sector in line with state aid rules with a view to its introduction in 2025. There will be considerable design work involved. It has to be done in a manner consistent with state aid rules. We will now embark on that work in the right spirit with a view to achieving a successful outcome. To bring it back to the fundamental point, what we need here on terms and conditions is engagement between the relevant parties. My colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, is setting up the stakeholder forum that my Department will be directly involved in. What we are doing here in the Finance (No. 2) Bill is increasing the cap to €125 million. We are presenting the sector with an enormous opportunity, which I believe it should be seizing. I will be as supportive as I possibly can to achieve progress on the valid issues that have been raised by a range of Deputies this morning and, indeed, last night.