Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The IFB was renamed Screen Ireland in 2018. Screen Ireland is the national development agency for Irish film making and the Irish film, television and animation industry. Its statutory remit is to assist and encourage the making of film in the State and the development of a film industry in Ireland. Screen Ireland supports writers, directors and production companies across these sectors by providing investment loans for the development, production and distribution of film, television.

Screen Ireland is at the forefront of the movement towards gender equality and has demonstrated its commitment to addressing gender equality in Irish film-making and screen content. In particular, in the roles of writers and directors, Screen Ireland is working towards achieving a target of 50:50 creative talent working in screen content by 2020. Screen Ireland has reported a significant increase of 62% in applications received with female talent attached and an 82% increase in funding awards with female talent attached in 2018, in comparison to 2017 figures.

Screen Ireland’s vision for gender and diversity is set out in its five-year strategy and the six-point plan on gender equality, which outlines a number of measures to monitor and enhance gender representation across the sector.

Considerable progress has been made in terms of encouraging female writers, directors and producers into the sector through training initiatives arid through the Screen Ireland short film schemes. The commitment of Screen Ireland to gender equality has been acknowledged nationally and internationally, and 70% of Screen Ireland short films funded under the Screen Ireland short stories and frameworks schemes in 2017 have female directors attached.

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