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

I will put it very simply for the Minister. I appreciate that the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, has agreed to meet me and film workers next week, as well as the engagement of the Department of Finance and Revenue. However, I wish to put certain points to the Minister. I challenge her to find one film worker with a contract of indefinite duration. The State gives €100 million a year to provide quality employment and training in the Irish film industry. In spite of that, she will not be able to find a single film worker with a contract of indefinite duration. There are not 17,000 full-time equivalents as was claimed by Screen Ireland. I do not have time to go into it in detail. One calculates a full-time equivalent by dividing the number of production hours by the number of employees based on a 39-hour week and employees receiving holiday pay and so on. No film worker works a 39-hour week or receives holiday pay or any such benefits. This needs to be investigated and the people who are getting this money need to be brought before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht and questioned on where are the jobs in the film industry.

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