Ms Deirdre Donaghy:

The Deputy asked about the regional uplift and increasing the area limit. The way that worked was it was not a regional aid, as in an approved aid, but it used the regional aid map to identify the areas in which a production could happen that could then benefit from the uplift. It was fortuitous because, as it happened, the areas regional aid could not be provided to were the main production hubs around Dublin and Wicklow, so it worked very well as a way to identify areas outside the current main production hubs.

The second criterion the Deputy mentioned was the 45 km. That was a secondary one where each production claiming the regional uplift, which is intended to develop new pools of talent, had to be able to show the particular skills of the particular people it was recruiting were not available within a 45 km radius of the project it was claiming the uplift for. It would therefore bring in people to learn these skills and do this job with the hope they would transfer those skills within the area. That was the plan around developing the talent pool. The problem with extending the regional uplift is not the kilometre radius, because as the Deputy said it could be 75 km or whatever, but rather with identifying via the regional aid map, because following the introduction of the relief, a new regional aid map was agreed and it is much more geographically narrow. I think only about 15% of the country geographically is now identified as an area that can accept regional aid, so as an identifier that map would not be as effective because it would cut out large parts of the country that would say they do not have a film industry and that they should be able to claim regional aid. We have not found an alternative objective measure we could use that would be as effective as that old regional aid map was, so instead the policy decision in the interim has been to focus on the main credit because I reiterate it is available to productions anywhere in the country. The hope is that by supporting the main credit, enhancing it and developing those opportunities, that will help the industry spread more widely nationally.

The next area was the cultural certificate and copyright law. Similar to the employment law, copyright law applies irrespective of whether it is mentioned. I am very conscious copyright law is quite relevant to the sector because actors, musicians, writers and various kinds of people have copyright issues. We have also met different representatives, including Equity, the directors' guild and the writers' guild, to understand their issues. We have got a good understanding with them of what the issues are and the potential pathways in which they need to progress it. There is not a difficulty with copyright law as it stands.

The issue concerns an interpretation of what is fair and reasonable remuneration, how that is agreed between the various parties, and how one balances, for example, an upfront amount versus a tail payment. My colleague in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media will say a little more about that. If I have missed anything or members have more questions, I am happy to reply.