Ms Maggie Breathnach:

If section 481 support did come into the regions and the Gaeltacht areas it would have a major impact. As a Gaeltacht producer, predominantly in creative documentaries, to go back a little, in the context of the regional uplift section 481 support previously in place, we were successful with two projects in this regard. We were based in the regions and producing there but we did not qualify for the regional uplift scheme. It was a travel thing. A representative was coming from Waterford, 45 km away. He was adjudged to live too far away. This was one reason we fell down on the application. Although our production company was based in the region, we also fell down on the fact that we were travelling all over Ireland and were not located in one spot during the filming. This meant we could not obtain support. These kinds of conditions can be quite frustrating if a fund is available and you are not ticking all the boxes. We did qualify for section 481. It is very important to say that those two projects had a major impact on me moving my company from Dublin to An Rinn. Bhí sé really tábhachtach agus as sin, from that, I have a trainee who started with me just out of the pandemic and is still with me today because of the section 481 qualification. This just shows how impactful section 481 and this initiative, and similar ones, are to producers in rural areas. They are really tábhachtach. Sin é an méid.