Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Film studios are privately owned commercial entities, of which there are a number in Ireland with several new studios in various stages of development and planning. There is no rationale for public intervention in the provision of film studios as the private sector is doing so effectively. There is no evidence that the public sector would be more successful than the private sector in running a film studio. Taking one film studio into public ownership would be seen as anti-competitive by other film studio owners.

Public funding of film studios is a state-aid matter and the agreement of the European Commission is not likely to be forthcoming if we were to attempt to take this studio into public ownership. There is a well-known case, involving Ciudad de la Luz film studio in Alicante in Spain. In 2012 the European Commission ruled that public subsidies of €260 million had to be repaid to the regional government as the subsidies violated European competition law and the studio closed as a result.

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