Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Section 481 is a key and central component of the film industry. There is no doubt about the benefits of this tax relief. That is recognised by the vast majority of the industry. It has been beneficial and it should remain in the future. Notwithstanding that, an Oireachtas Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht all-party report contained 11 key recommendations on reform of the section. It drew particular attention to the precarious position of workers within the industry, which was mentioned earlier. We would not be doing our job if we did not also note some of the reports about the recent film, "The Professor and the Madman". Accusations and allegations were made about that film by Mel Gibson's attorney to others. It is being suggested that this section of our legislation is being abused to inflate costs. Whether the allegations are true will be tested in the courts and we will let them deal with that.

We need to deal with what we have in front of us in the Bill. Whenever that case may be adjudicated, the court may not look at this in the same way we would. We need to make sure that section 481 is robust enough and that we do not have a situation where costs in a certain production, whether that be film or otherwise, are being inflated to swindle the taxpayers paying for this relief. The joint committee also noted that €73 million of the total section 481 tax relief went to the 12 largest production companies. That is an issue I would like examined to ensure this section of our tax code is supportive of a small but expanding industry.

Deputy Boyd Barrett has well ventilated the points on the employment issue. That is why there is a need for a review. Nobody is arguing that we should get rid of section 481. There is, however, a need to make sure that it is robust, that it cannot be abused and that we look at what is happening within the sector. We hear repeatedly of certain companies that crew trainees, for example, in a way to suppress costs. There has been concern, which was raised again in the report, that the structure of the relief was militating against jobs coming to Ireland.

The report called for an international comparative study to be conducted to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the section 481 tax credit. That would be worthy. This amendment should be a catalyst for such a review. I refer specifically to the robustness of it and the allegations that have been made. They are only allegations at the moment but we need to ensure that Revenue and the Department are doing their job to make sure there is no way costs can be inflated to avail of additional tax reliefs above what should be legitimately paid. Most important is the issue of whether quality employment is being provided as a result of this relief.

Nothing in what I am saying should scare the horses. This is the right thing to do and it is timely to do it. A number of comments have been made, a number of articles have been published, there is a court case and our own committee is also asking for work to be done on this. This is the time to have a focused look at this. There may be other areas we may want to review but the robustness of section 481 and the employment conditions of the workforce are two areas that need to be focused in on in a review.

We have heard concerns from employees within the sector. They feel that if they raise concerns they will not be re-employed and they would be blackballed. The joint committee recommended that the Government should seek to make working arrangements in the sector more secure given the level of public funding and tax reliefs that fuel the film industry. We can all agree that there should be zero tolerance for any worker exploitation. It is a live issue and it is coming at us from a number of different angles. A review and a report, which laid bare the facts for all of us to see in the midst of all of the ongoing different commentary, would be welcome and timely.

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