Mr. Paul Cummins:

To be on par with the new UK film tax credit, we recommend increasing the section 481 tax credit from 32% to 40%, at least for the regions and if that cannot be worked out because of the aid map, the increase should apply to the whole country. Screen Ireland's nationwide additional production fund should be focused on developing and supporting regional production companies. Screen Ireland should also establish a slate development funding scheme, targeted at regional production companies, along similar lines to the nationwide scheme introduced during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. Finally, a properly funded TG4 can be a major springboard for the industry in the Gaeltacht and the regions. The public funding allocated to TG4 is extremely low, at approximately 50% of that received by Welsh-language broadcaster, S4C. We recommend the implementation of the five-year funding model contained in the TG4 Statement of Strategy 2023-2027, which has been approved by Dáil Éireann.