Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach mentioned the expenditure planned in arts, heritage and culture in Project Ireland 2040. Did the committee discuss the absolutely shameful decision to sell the State's share in what are effectively the national film studios? They are both an important part of Ireland's cultural and film heritage and an important location for developing the film industry. Over the past number of weeks it was barely reported and seems not to have been discussed at all.

The Comptroller and Auditor General must investigate the circumstances of the sale. When it was first mooted there might be a sale, the estimated value of the Government's share was €15 million. It has been reported in the press that the sale took place for €6 million but as part of the sale, €7 million in debt owed by Ardmore was written off, meaning we gave away the State's share in Ardmore for nothing and gave the purchasers €1 million on top of that. The purchaser was a company set up three to four weeks before the sale went through. It did not have a history of involvement in the film industry, although some of the people involved are connected with a rival studio in Limerick. Frankly, this stinks to high heaven, particularly when six of Ardmore's seven purpose-built stages have been empty for a period when there is supposed to be a lack of capacity in the Irish film industry. Films are being made in derelict NAMA buildings on the South Circular Road and Tallaght, where there have been major protests and disputes by film workers about the conditions in which they work. The State's studio, meanwhile, has been sitting empty and then we flogged the share. It is extraordinary stuff.

I could say more, but I do not have time. What is going on? Grants given by the Irish Film Board are never repaid. There are serious matters that need to be looked into in this area.

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