Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 27 May 2021

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht

General Scheme of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2020: Discussion (Resumed)

Mr. Ronan McCabe:

I will respond on the economic side. In regard to the content levy, we have suggested that a levy of €20 million could free up the sum of around €100 million. We published a PwC report on section 481 earlier this year and it refers to a multiplier of about four to one, so for every €1 spent, the Government got that back four times. That follows on from the Olsberg-SPI report from four or five years ago. There is definitely a multiplier effect. While I cannot give the Deputy specific figures with regard to jobs, I know the economic modelling shows a very positive benefit to Ireland Inc. when we spend money on the creative industries.