Ms Elaine Geraghty:

May I answer that? The idea of longevity cannot be overstated. The tapering is the point. If I get a call from a US studio that wants to come to Ireland and it is not particularly fussy about what part, its first question concerns what the tax break is like. When it finds that it is good, its second question concerns what the crew's level and skill set are like. I can talk only about Troy Studios in Castletroy, Limerick, where we started to grow crew only five years ago. At its height, when we had a huge show in, we were actually feeding in costume design students from the local college, many of whom went on to work in the sector. That stopped because there was no visibility on what would happen down the line. There is a stop–start, so you need a long runway in the knowledge that it takes time. This industry is decades old and most of it is in Wicklow and Dublin. It has taken that time to build the crew, upskill and obtain the opportunity. If we do not allow time, it will simply not happen.

I have two more points. Most of the big producers are based in Dublin and Wicklow but they do not always want to film there. They want to get out. I have people working in Ardmore - not for me but as crew on productions - who bought property in their area with the dream of staying local and having a pipeline of projects in Troy Studios that would allow them to stay there. Wicklow is not a panacea; it is just that it has had a head start of about 50 years. Therefore, we have a bit of catching up to do. I hope that helps.