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

As the Minister indicated, the committee stated that section 481 was an essential part of the industry, and most of the elements within the industry would indicate that, but that does not mean section 481 is perfect or without fault. Recently, as the Minister will know, Mel Gibson's attorneys have accused the producer of "The Professor and the Madman" of seeking to swindle Ireland's tax authorities. Allegations have been made that expenses related to the making of the film have been inflated so that the amount of tax relief achieved by the film is higher than it should be and, therefore, the workers and the taxpayers of this country would be at a loss if those allegations are true. If they are true, it means that section 481 is not rigid enough. There has been a review of section 481 by another Department recently. The Minister might advise the Dáil the results of that review. Did it seek to close those loopholes?

The report also contains the finding that €73 million of section 481 relief is concentrated within 12 companies. That was considered to be a very uneven spread of that tax relief and that this relief might be militating against jobs coming to Ireland due to the oligopolistic nature of the Irish producers sector. The committee called for an international comparative study. Perhaps the Minister will commit here today to the carrying out of an international comparative study with regard to the way in which section 481 could be strengthened.

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