Ms Susan Kirby:

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus le baill an choiste as an gcuireadh chun teacht ina láthair inniu chun an creidmheas cánach i leith scannáin agus teilifíse faoi alt 481 a phlé.

My colleagues with me here today from Screen Producers Ireland, SPI, are Aoife O'Sullivan and James Hickey, who are both producer members. SPI is a national representative organisation of independent film, television, animation and digital production companies. With over 170 company members, SPI is recognised as the voice of independent audiovisual production in Ireland. SPI members are creative entrepreneurs who produce globally celebrated film, animation and television material. They create high-value, all-island and regionally spread employment, foster Ireland’s culture on screen and preserve Ireland’s artistic heritage. SPI comprises a range of production companies, from emerging producers to producers of large-scale high-end film and television series, working in both the Irish and English languages.

We are happy to appear before this committee again. We appeared here previously in 2019 to discuss section 481 and we had a positive engagement at the meeting. We note in the invitation the request that only matters directly related to the section 481 tax expenditure that are under the remit of this committee are to be discussed. Therefore, we have kept our opening statement to this area. We hope that our statement and subsequent discussion will inform the committee of the vital role that section 481 plays in the sustainability of the Irish screen sector, both for incoming and indigenous productions.

At the outset, I must welcome the budget 2023 announcement that section 481 has been extended to 2028, something which SPI called for in its pre-budget discussions. It is worth adding that this decision was made on foot of a positive recommendation to do so in a 50-page cost-benefit collective analysis completed recently by the Department of Finance. This report included a detailed analysis of how section 481 works, gave details on the great advances that have been made in the film and television production sector in training and upscaling, and set out the very significant progress that has been made in industrial relations, including the two new collective bargaining agreements which have been concluded in the past couple of years.

Section 481 is one of the most crucial incentive schemes for independent producers in Ireland. It provides much-needed tax relief for eligible productions. This extension provides much-needed clarity for independent producers seeking to undertake long-term production planning. The Government has shown us through the extension of section 481 to 2028 that it realises the potential of international and indigenous production here in Ireland. I know that our producer members, crew and casts will create the world-class, award-winning content that they have the ability to create. However, we are disappointed that there was no extension of the regional uplift which proved very valuable in bringing productions out of the Dublin-Wicklow hub. The uplift has seen considerable production activity across the country from Kerry to Donegal and SPI will continue to advocate for its return in some form.

As I have mentioned, the Department of Finance released a new cost-benefit analysis of section 481 which showed the growth in the sector in both employment and economic size since the previous analysis in 2019. The Department analysis noted:

Supporting the development of a thriving Irish audio-visual sector remains an objective of the Government. By providing tax relief to Irish producer companies in respect of qualifying films the scheme directly contributes to the growth of a creative screen production industry in the State.

The Department also pointed out that it is important that we begin to capture the cultural dividend of section 481 projects beyond economics alone. We are glad to see that Screen Ireland will be releasing a cultural dividend report on section 481 in the coming weeks and we believe this will show a significant impact. SPI believes that with this clear statement of support from the Government, our sector can reach the targets set out in the Government's audiovisual action plan, which seeks to double employment in film, television and animation, and double the economic worth of the sector. The Creative Ireland programme audiovisual action plan also sets out the role of section 481 in contributing to the development and sustainability of the Irish screen industry, supporting jobs in the domestic economy, which is a strategic cultural industry, and supporting the tourism sector in Ireland. This can be seen through Ireland’s reputation internationally.

The past decade has seen Irish productions being nominated for over 30 Oscar nominations which is a very significant achievement for a country of our size. "An Cailín Ciúin" is breaking Irish and UK box office records for an Irish-language feature film, surpassing €1 million at the box office. It has been chosen as the Irish entry to the International Feature Film Oscar and is being touted as a possible nominee. The key to all of this success is the ability of Irish producers to hold on to intellectual property for their projects. By retaining intellectual property, producers can reinvest into new development for projects which enables them to grow their company into one of scale. This is a key issue for SPI in the coming years.

It is important to note the economic return of section 481. According to the Government-commissioned Olsberg report, for every €1 of the cost of section 481, €1.02 in tax revenues was paid to the Government and there was an economic net benefit of €2.82 from the activities supported. We firmly believe that this return on investment has increased in the years since then due to the increasing size of the sector and that section 481 is a good return on investment on behalf of the taxpayer.

With the arrival in Europe of major streaming services, including Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, over the past ten years, the scale of screen content production, which was already at high levels in film and television production, has increased dramatically. There is a strong competitive environment for inward production, which is the locating of films, television drama, animation and games in EU member states. Ireland has done well for all of the reasons it has done well in other areas of inward investment, including its talented and creative workforce, the English language and its proximity to the UK - which is the largest single production country in Europe - as well as the film tax credit and other supports currently in place.

It is important that we reflect on the types of productions that section 481 supports in this country, both incoming and indigenous. It supports multi-million budget television dramas such as the Apple TV-funded sci-fi drama series "Foundations", which was shot in Troy Studios in Limerick. The challenging new feature film "Aisha", which was directed by Frank Berry and is set in Ireland's direct provision system, recently screened and received great reviews at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. Section 481 also supports recently released Irish indigenous productions like the worldwide success that is "An Cailín Ciúin" and the newly released "Róise & Frank", both of which were also supported by the Cine4 scheme. Documentaries like "Vicky" and "Nothing Compares", both of which were released in cinemas last week, are supported by section 481, as are television dramas such as "Kin" and "Normal People" on RTÉ.

SPI welcomes the opportunity to engage with the committee. We look forward to a good discussion about section 481 and its impact on the screen sector. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.