Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. In our voting session earlier on, we all reflected on the contribution that Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett has made to all of this. It is great to hear his voice back on the airwaves and to hear that he is recovering. I would describe Deputy Boyd Barrett as being a leading proponent of the unscripted creative sector through the contributions he has made on it on many different occasions. I wish him all the best and acknowledge the impact he has had on this issue. In the Deputy's absence, the Deputies have raised matters that I will respond to. Quite a variety of matters have been raised, so I ask them to bear with me as I do my best to go through each of them in turn.

On amendment No. 47, under the proposed amendment, the Deputy suggests including “the development of the film industry in all the regions of Ireland” as a factor that the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport shall have regard to when issuing a cultural certificate in accordance with film regulations. I respectfully suggest to the Deputy that this wording is unnecessary as the legislation already states that “the development of the film industry in the State” is a factor the Minister shall have regard to when issuing a cultural significance certificate. This includes all regions of the State and would appear to sufficiently cover what the Deputy seeks from a legislative perspective. Therefore, I cannot accept the amendment.

In relation to amendment No. 48, the introduction of additional criteria to the credit relating to Irish music requires careful consideration of the impact such an amendment could have. Section 481 already plays a key role in attracting international productions to Ireland and any additional qualifying criteria would have to be considered in light of the impact on the attractiveness of the credit globally. Film is also a creative medium, and the imposition of limitations on the type of music that can be used in projects could prevent productions being made in Ireland where qualifying music fitting with the creative vision is not available. It is worth noting that, while the culture test does not specifically reference Irish music, it can still play a role in the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport determining where a production company presents its case for cultural certification for a film. Taking these factors into account, I cannot accept the amendment.

I now turn to amendment No. 50 in relation to theatre productions. The Government, as indicated in the programme for Government launched in January of this year, has already committed to examine the tax treatment of production costs for theatre productions.

The programme for Government is a comprehensive five-year strategy that sets out to reflect policy objectives over the lifetime of Government. This remains a longer term objective and, as such, officials in my Department have not yet commenced work on this commitment at this early stage. Given the commitment already in this area, I cannot accept the amendment. However, I look forward to engaging with the Deputy, as with other stakeholders, on the issue once work commences.

I will now deal with amendments Nos. 49, 51, 52 and 57 together. First, I acknowledge the input of Members of this House on matters concerning the audiovisual sector in recent years, including though examinations at the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. My officials have directly engaged with all relevant representative bodies in the sector, including those representing crew, cast and producers, to understand the issues affecting the audiovisual sector and to chart a pathway forward. The attention brought to issues in the sector by representative bodies and by Members of this House has contributed to real progress being achieved on a number of fronts.

In relation to copyright, I first note that copyright law falls within the remit of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Copyright is relevant for many workers in the film sector, including authors, producers, broadcasters and performers, and there are, however, complex legal issues involved. Deputies may be aware from previous discussions in the House that a process is under way to address these issues. An independent facilitator was retained by Screen Ireland in 2023 to meet with a group of key stakeholders to identify and understand issues relevant to the digital Single Market directive. As a result of this process, industry stakeholders have agreed interim best practice industry guidelines while they pursue a path towards a collective bargaining agreement.

With regard to terms and conditions for film workers, it is not my place as Minister to dictate to actors and other creative professionals what their stance on their pay and conditions should be. This is a decision for the workers themselves and for their representative unions to seek agreement in negotiations with employer representatives. There are clear precedents for this form of progress in the sector. Deputies will be aware that there has been significant progress on terms and conditions provided to film workers over the last number of years, including negotiated crew agreements for film and construction crews. For example, the construction crew agreement, in addition to setting pay rates, provides for the extension of coverage for pension, sick leave and other benefits to industry construction workers under the construction workers pension scheme. It has provided for the establishment of a joint monitoring structure that helps to ensure the agreement is appropriately implemented. Furthermore, I do not believe it is appropriate for legal rights to be linked to only one set of circumstances where a company avails of a tax credit. It is very important to recognise that the laws that underpin both copyright and employment rights apply regardless of whether a company applies for section 481. They apply equally.

On the request by Deputies Doherty, Farrell and Ó Snodaigh for reports on the impact of incentives that support the sector, I advise that section 481 is regularly reviewed in line with my Department’s tax expenditure guidelines. The most recent review took place in 2022. However, it is also outside the remit of my Department to produce a report on working conditions in the sector, which is why I cannot accept the amendments put forward by the Deputies.

With regard to the regional uplift, which was touched on by Deputy Farrell, we had a regional uplift in place. I brought it in myself at 5%, which was available for 2019 and 2022. In the Finance Act 2020, given the health environment we were in at that point, the uplift was extended to include a further year at 5%. It was then tapered out at 3% in 2022 and 2% in 2023. I am well aware of how well the uplift was received upon its introduction. However, I note that the main film tax credit remains available to qualifying productions in all areas of the country, and the main credit is set at a very competitive rate of 32% on qualifying expenditure of up to €125 million. Furthermore, the scale uplift enhanced credit of 8%, which is available to feature film projects with qualifying expenditure of less than €20 million, enhances the viability of smaller projects which are more likely to film in regional locations.

Regarding some of the final matters that were raised by Deputy Nash in particular, I am aware of the UK agreement that has been negotiated by UK representative bodies which has regard to UK law, but in January in 2025, an interim set of guidelines in relation to copyright was agreed by stakeholders in the sector of Ireland. It is very welcome. I hope this leads to a permanent agreement. I believe the engagement that I and we have had on this matter in this committee in recent years has been a small catalyst in these developments taking place.