Ms Deirdre Donaghy:

The Deputy cannot pick on a contract of indefinite duration as being the one hallmark of good employment because I think that is not reasonable. If one is on a contract of indefinite duration and that work dries up and comes to an end, that does not mean one will work forever. One can be let go in the same way as anyone can be let go. Neither can one say that someone who chooses to work between different producers and is happy to do so, on different types of productions, for example, will never generate rights to a contract of indefinite duration because of the way he or she chooses to work, or that we are not going to regard him or her as equally worthy of protection, for example.

We must have an assessment of quality employment and training that is not only focused on one thing. When the circumstances of one's employment are such that one should earn a contract of indefinite duration, that should happen in the film sector in the same way as it does in any other sector. Equally, if one is working in that sector and one is, by choice, happy to work with different production companies on different projects, we must also make sure we have a system that allows for quality employment and quality training in that kind of way as well.

That is why there has been a very significant focus through the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media on skills development. For example, we have moved from focusing just on trainees to focusing on upskilling across a career. A big part for everyone, whether they are in a contract of indefinite duration or whether they are moving between productions, is that what is critical to the industry as a whole is the pipeline, because if work dries up in the sector as a whole, whether one is a permanent employee or a brand new contractor, there has to be a pipeline of work coming. All of those factors together have to be factored in to quality employment. We cannot just pick any one; we have to be conscious of all of them.