Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister, as the responsible office holder who is enabling funding for this industry to be increased from €300 million to €500 million, has failed to answer in any reasonable way in respect of areas for which she is responsible and which are currently the subject of significant scandal. This scandal has the capacity to damage Ireland's international reputation at a time when there is general agreement in the country that we should support the film industry and seek to have it expanded. It goes without saying that, for the sake of the people who train for, are educated for, and work in the industry, this funding should be increased in a way which looks at and faces the issues. When one is a Minister, one is responsible for facing up to the problems in the sector and for seeking to alleviate and remedy them. We have already seen an extensive programme devoted to the industry on RTÉ. We know from conversations we have had with different people that there are issues. There is a common, united view in the House that this industry is well worth supporting and that it is really important for culture and identity both for Ireland and for newcomers to the country. It is a powerful agent for projecting a vision of Ireland and our ambitions for what will happen to young people and older people.

Despite this, the Minster has been completely silent as to how she is prepared to respond. In a significant acknowledgement, she indicated that, with just seven members, the Irish Film Board is possibly too small. I assume she means that it is therefore unrepresentative. My guess would be that it is not sufficiently representative of the wide range of people who work in the industry, including people who are employed in the industry. That is what we are talking about.

I find it really strange that the two amendments relating to reports have been ruled out of order given that the Department of Finance has no difficulty dealing with reports. Perhaps members of the Business Committee and other committees of the House should look at that because it is a very bad ruling. It should be possible for the Oireachtas to seek to have reports dealing with pertinent issues which have been raised laid before us.

The Minister did not say much at all that was not in the material included in the report on the industry in 2017. I am certainly a very strong supporter of the cartoon industry. It has done some great work and produced some wonderful films here. It is for the Minister to be open to addressing legitimate issues in the industry in a creative way. I am just not clear as to whether she has any standards at all. She indicated that she acknowledges that people have legal rights. She stated that they have these rights but this Bill deals with extensive access to funding and with how the industry is organised. The context of the industry has been expanded to include, as the Minister outlined, audiovisual areas, cartoons and so on, but that is in response to what has actually been happening. A huge amount of talent in the fields of film and cartooning has been nurtured in Ballyfermot College of Further Education. What is the Minister saying to students who are going to graduate this year and who really want to work in this industry, which they love? Will they have any opportunity to work under proper terms and conditions? What we are asking for is in no way radical or revolutionary. It simply makes sense.

We are all equally aware that films are project-based. This allows for a great deal of change in a creative industry, but it results in responsibilities to ensure that the people who are employed in the industry and the young people who are coming into it to make names for themselves are genuinely treated fairly and given good opportunities. There is a responsibility to ensure that the quality of training and education in the industry is up to date, modern, and empowering because we want all of these people to be able to develop and use their talents to the maximum extent.

I am very disappointed in the response of the Minister and her officials. It is not the officials who make the policy, however. It is the Minister who is responsible to the Dáil for policy. We are talking about an area in which it is known internationally that there is a policy problem. We have all said how we might reasonably go about addressing that problem. If the Minister is now thinking about expanding the board, perhaps she could tell us a little about how she sees that happening. Is she to allow herself a period of reflection so that she can then expand the board and set up proper structures? She has offered that. Would the board be expanded to 11? That would be four extra people. Would she have people from the education area of the industry on the board? Would she include people from the training and experience areas of the industries? Would she include producers working in different areas of the industry? The Minister has acknowledged that the board is somewhat small. As there are only seven members and as it is an international industry, is it difficult to get many members of the board to attend meetings? I would not be surprised if that was a problem.

There should be a sub-committee. People who are not members of the main board could also be appointed to the sub-committee so that we would really get decent oversight on this issue, which has caused some difficulties for the industry. We all have goodwill towards expanding funding and loan capacity in the industry but we also want to see those areas - which, as I have stated, have been the subject of a great deal of discussion and a fair amount of scandal - addressed.

See this speech in context