Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome what the Minister said, and the changes that are being brought about. I am here long enough to remember the 2004 campaign to save section 481. I was one of those on the Opposition benches who supported it at the time. Even way back then, there were questions as to whether we can could carte blanchetax relief and basically forgo tax in such a way without any conditionality. What the amendment proposes is the introduction of a conditionality on a major investment by the State in an industry to try to ensure the terms and conditions of the workers in that industry are not less than the conditions 90 miles up the road. That is it in a nutshell. I do not think anybody here is having a go at the industry in terms of its product, which is second to none. We understand the State has invested in and promoted the film industry since it took over Ardmore Studios in the 1970s and it has been up and down since. We have a product with which we can celebrate Ireland throughout the world, through film and the audiovisual sector, but we need to do so in a way that enables us to celebrate Irish workers, protect them and make sure their contribution to the audiovisual world is protected in the same way we protect other workers under the finance Acts. It is part of the Minister's job, in the changes that he brings about in spending and taxing workers or industry, to ensure it reflects the best possible cases.

It is not one or the other in my view. We should pass this amendment, but we should also proceed with the other recommendations of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. If you go back to the arts committee in the previous Dáil, you will see that all of these questions were asked in advance of the changes that gave rise to the cap being increased to €70 million. Nothing has happened, and that is the problem for those working in the industry. They see movement away from them, or at least that they are being ignored. The opportunity is now. That is why I am pressing the amendment.