Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Boyd Barrett is right. This is a really important problem. Training in the sector has no beginning, middle or end. It has no certification whatsoever. It is a box-ticking exercise for firms to achieve their section 481 tax break. What it means is that people who are well qualified and well experienced are forced to go into the same positions over and over again. I have spoken to every sector of the film industry, and they agree there is absolutely a problem here. There is also a problem with the fact that most films and TV series are made with special purpose vehicles that exist only for the duration of work on the film so individuals are only employed momentarily in these organisations. There is a forum in a part of the Irish Film Board. The Minister should get the Irish Film Board to launch the forum to allow for all the stakeholders to work together to ensure they start to fix this. I believe there is a will in the sector to fix this. Secondly, I ask the Minister to ensure the actual workers in this sector are appointed to the Irish Film Board in order that they themselves have an opportunity to represent real issues to the Irish Film Board.

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