Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides a 32% payable relief for eligible expenditure on film production in Ireland. The scheme is intended to act as a stimulus to the creation of an indigenous film industry in the State, creating quality employment opportunities and supporting the expression of Irish culture. The audiovisual sector has largely continued to function through the most challenging period of the disease and to provide quality employment at a time when so many other elements of the culture sector have been severely impacted.

The protocols put in place by the sector have meant that workers have been in high demand. It is the expectation that in the provision of such opportunities there will be compliance with all applicable employment obligations, including legislative obligations and policies and procedures to ensure dignity at work. To grow the industry in Ireland, we want to see quality and sustained employment and training opportunities in the sector. This is reflected in the undertaking of quality employment which is required to be signed as part of the application process for section 481. This undertaking not only applies to the producer company but also to the DAC. In addition to the requirement to sign an undertaking of quality employment, an applicant company is also required to submit a skills development plan as part of its section 481 application if the relevant project is worth more than €2 million.

There has been good progress over the past year in negotiations between employer and worker representative bodies in the sector. For example, from January 2021, a modernised crew agreement was introduced which promotes good practice, regularises evolving work practices and provides for an industry pension scheme operating under the construction workers pension scheme. A monitoring structure to oversee the operation of the agreement is included, as is a commitment to develop the first work-life balance policy for the film and television industry. The agreement acts as a framework for the industry, covering all grades except film construction. I understand that a proposed construction crew agreement is also under negotiation. My officials will continue to monitor progress in this regard.

In relation to any specific workplace disputes, the WRC and the Labour Court are the organs of the State tasked with the resolution of disputes relating to workplace matters and employment rights. It is appropriate that any relevant claims should be referred to these bodies for adjudication. As a result, I am unable to comment on the specific matters raised by Deputy Boyd Barrett. Taking all these points into account, I do not believe it is necessary to undertake a report as proposed by the Deputies. Therefore, I do not intend to accept this amendment.

I would like to make a broader point to Deputy Boyd Barrett. I recognise his long-standing interest in this issue, and the role he has played in bringing progress about. The sector is making much progress on issues that are of concern to the workers who have raised issues to Deputy Boyd Barrett and to the Oireachtas committee. As I said on Committee Stage, I met with SIPTU and Screen Ireland about the status of their sector, as well as sectoral issues that are relevant to the debate we are having. The picture they gave to me of the industry is quite different from the issues that Deputy Boyd Barrett has raised. I am not saying for a moment that everything is ideal and that there are no issues. There are issues. When SIPTU and Screen Ireland spoke about the progress they are making, they painted a picture of progress that is at odds with the way Deputy Boyd Barrett has described the sector.

Through my officials who are active in the interdepartmental work that is taking place on this sector, I will continue to monitor this issue and look at issues regarding the implementation of section 481. When we were debating this matter a few years ago, Deputy Boyd Barrett read out to me the qualifying section for accessing the tax relief. I think one of the phrases used was “quality employment”. The Deputy asked me if I believed that a tax relief should be available to an employer if quality employment was not being fulfilled. I think I said two things to him in response. The first was that in any workplace, there are always issues with how workers feel about the work they are doing and, in addition, employers sometimes have issues about work and the way an organisation or company is doing its work. The second thing I said to the Deputy was that this industry, as he knows because he has a good grasp of what is going on, is organised project by project. Having said all of that to the Deputy, I still answered “Yes” to his question. I believe that if a condition of access to this tax relief is the delivery of quality employment within our country, that is a condition for this relief continuing to be available in Ireland and in specific projects in Ireland. On foot of that exchange between the Deputy and me, and because of actions taken by my Department after that, I believe progress has been made. In fairness to the Deputy, he acknowledges that progress has been made. He has done so on many occasions. My judgment is that we are at odds on how much progress has been made. Through the Finance Bill and through the engagement of my Department in this matter, we will continue to work away on this agenda. We will continue to look at the industrial relations work that is progressing quite well in this sector to see if we can play a role in supporting that progress.

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