Ms Elaine Geraghty:

I thank the committee for the invitation to appear before it today to discuss the very important subject of supports for the regional film and TV production section. I am the managing director of Ardmore Studios and Troy Studios.

By way of background on the two studios, Ardmore Studios was established in 1958 and is located in Bray, County Wicklow. It is Ireland’s longest-established studio. At Ardmore we have eight sound stages ranging from 3,000 sq. ft to 23,250 sq. ft, comprising more than 90,000 sq. ft of stage space in total. Ardmore’s brand and reputation is recognised by producers throughout the world and has been home to hundreds of national and international productions over the years. Our newest facility is Troy Studios, located in Castletroy, Limerick. It comprises 26 acres, with four sound stages totalling 100,000 sq. ft and an overall footprint of 350,000 sq. ft under one roof, with a backlot. Both Ardmore Studios and Troy Studios were acquired by Hackman Capital Partners in 2021. It is one of the leading real estate and studio services organisation with studio assets in the US and Europe.

Any discussion or review on regional development of the screen industry has to be considered in the context of State support generally, namely, section 481. Consistent and continuous commitment by Governments over the years to retaining and enhancing section 481 has contributed significantly to the delivery of a well-developed, ambitious and successful Irish screen industry for indigenous and international incoming productions. The recent increase in the cap on section 481 to €125 million per-project enables Ireland to compete for the large-scale projects that were out of our budget league heretofore. It is an incredibly important measure for our industry and the recent European Commission approval of the increase allows discussions to take place in earnest and we expect to yield dividends from it in the next 12 to 18 months. It has made Ireland a much more attractive location and I hope we will see the tangible results within a two-year period.

While acknowledging the impact of the improvements in section 481, which are very welcome, it has to be seen and understood in a globally competitive market, where new fiscal initiatives and growth incentives are regularly put in place in other markets to attract productions to their locations. As my colleague Mr. McCabe just mentioned, the recent UK announcement is an example. It has raised the bar again for its industry with fiscal policies and an enhanced tax support of 40% tax relief for films budgeted up to £15 million. This aims to reignite the independent mid-sized production sector. I mention this because it presents an existential threat to our indigenous industry, with projects of this budget level being the cornerstone of the screen industry. When we discuss and look at enhancing regional development of our industry it is also very much a case of protecting what we have, holding on to what we have and not losing it inevitably to Northern Ireland and the UK.

The importance of the regional uplift cannot be overstated. We, as the owners and operators of Troy Studios in Limerick, can attest to its impact when it was in place and when it tapered off and eventually concluded. The intention of the regional uplift was to decentralise the industry from the Dublin and Wicklow area and, moreover, to support the growth of the industry in the regions. It was greatly welcomed. It was by no means a perfect model. It was a bit of a blunt instrument. Basing it on the EU state aid map was problematic. Castletroy just made it into the current map. It would have been very difficult if it did not. There are also issues with the radius. The Department's figures for the 2022-23 period show it issued a total of 436 certificates that allowed indigenous and incoming productions to claim section 481 relief. Of these, 17.4% were for regional uplift projects.

Troy Studios was established around the same time the regional uplift was introduced. To give members an idea of its impact, for one large-scale production at Troy there were 367 working crew in total. Of these, 111 were within a 45 km radius of the studio and a further eight were within a 60 km of the studio. In total, more than 60% of all crew who worked on this one production were from outside the central hub of Dublin and Wicklow. Furthermore, a result of having this production on site enabled a direct link-in with local third-level institutions, with the creation of tailored courses to train and upskill potential crew looking to gain employment in the film and TV sector.

Any element of policy seeking to create change in this industry needs time. I like to refer to it as a long runway. We need time to develop skills and a crew base. We need time to build a production pipeline at Troy Studios so that opportunities are created for training and employment. We also need time to develop infrastructure and resources to support a regional screen industry.

Tremendous work has been done by Screen Ireland to develop skills in the regions. I chair of three of the steering committees, including that for Crew Academy West, which covers the mid-west and the Troy area. I look first-hand at what is involved in identifying, nurturing and growing the skills base. The cessation last year of the regional uplift, albeit a model with some shortcomings, caused large problems for the industry, for Troy Studios and for production companies. While Screen Ireland has put in place a temporary loan-based assistance funding measure, there is concern about the level of funding available and the fact that this is only a temporary measure. It does not provide a solution for productions that have, on average, a lead-in time of 18 to 24 months.

As the managing director of the largest studio under one roof in Ireland ,I can speak on the regional uplift directly and its impact specifically on our business. There is no doubt but that the purchase of Troy Studios was the largest financial commitment made in regional studio infrastructure in Ireland at the time. I know there are plans for others. The regional uplift was of significant importance in relation to the rationale for the business case of this decision. We were home to one of the largest productions being made in the world. As I have mentioned already, we employed locally-provided production crew training and positively impacted the local economy. However, we immediately witnessed the negative impact of the removal of the regional uplift. We lost out to productions selecting other countries for their film or TV productions. We have experienced great success in Ardmore but this is a loss to places outside of the Dublin and Wicklow area.

Cost is clearly a key factor. In terms of the 5% figure cited previously to the committee as the potential additional cost of a production outside the Dublin and Wicklow area, I can confirm that a recent small-scale production based in Troy for the past 12 months calculated its additional cost of producing in the region as 8%.

This comprised a number of elements, including logistics, crewing, transport and so on.

In terms of recommendations, in order to identify the key areas, an independent detailed report into a replacement of the regional uplift is required. The report should be rooted in delivering a long-term, industry and government collaborative, sustainable strategy, encompassing all areas of television and production, with recommendations to address the core need for regional training, employment, infrastructure and technology. Critically, this must deliver a recommendation to replace or modify the regional uplift initiative, its structure and long-term implementation. Time is of the essence. In tandem, we also concur with Screen Producers Ireland that the Screen Ireland fund should be extended and potentially increased. I apologise for going a little over time. I thank the committee for the invitation. I am happy to answer any questions.