Mr. Anthony Muldoon:

I am grateful for the invitation to join the committee today to discuss the development of regional film-making in Ireland. Over the past four years, this committee has consistently been supportive of the Irish film and television sector. For that, we are truly appreciative. I am also aware of the considerable wider political support that exists for regional film-making, which is very welcome.

Screen Producers Ireland, SPI, is a representative group made up of over 200 independent production companies. SPI supports the interests of independent producers working in independent film, television, animation and digital production in Ireland. SPI aims to ensure a working landscape that allows our industry to thrive. I am the director of strategic policy. I am joined by two SPI board members, James Hickey from Copper Alley Productions and Maggie Breathnach from Red Shoe Productions. Mr. Hickey is the ex-CEO of Screen Ireland. He has been heavily involved in the Irish film and television industry for over 30 years. Ms Breathnach is a regional producer who made the brave decision to move her company from Dublin to An Rinn in County Waterford seven years ago. She has made a considerable success of it in the interim. She has shown incredible ability to develop her company and has produced programmes for TG4, RTÉ and Sky Arts. Her insights into how to develop and grow regional film-making come from experience and perseverance.

We have four key recommendations that are as follows: the development of a regional filming strategy that covers both infrastructure and funding over a ten-year period to enable the screen industry to be embedded regionally; to increase the Screen Ireland nationwide additional production fund to €10 million; that Departments, working together, develop a reimagined way to implement the section 481 regional uplift scheme outside the Dublin-Wicklow area using a new regional aid map; and while we support the section 481 Gaeltacht uplift proposal, we feel it requires further consideration on its implementation by the Departments responsible for finance and culture.

These measures are required because audiovisual production is a resource-heavy process that requires capital investment to cover a range of costs, including production development, highly specialised crew, location costs and equipment rental, among other things. These costs are amplified when the production is in a region outside of Dublin or Wicklow due to the emerging nature of the sector in these areas. It is estimated there is an additional cost of 8% to 12% in producing live-action productions outside of Dublin and Wicklow.

The audiovisual sector in Ireland is internationally recognised for its capacity to create high quality productions due to the highly skilled crew, actors and wider creative talent that we have in this country. Most recently, this was emphasised by the west Cork production, "Bodkin", which was filmed in a beautiful part of the world, by a new Irish-European co-production, "September Says", which premiered yesterday at the Cannes film festival in the Un Certain Regard competition, and a recent documentary, "Lily and Lolly", about the lost Yeats sisters, which was produced by Maggie Breathnach and which is an all-female production. To further develop and increase production levels across the country, it is crucial to address the obstacles the industry faces in the regions in order to remove them. A regional strategy developed by Government and industry stakeholders should encompass all elements of the production cycle and build the necessary infrastructure to sustain a balanced and thriving industry nationwide.