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

I will answer the question tabled and then get back to the copyright. I understand that the Deputy's question on blacklisting refers to a situation when a person or persons are denied fair opportunities for work or they are discriminated against for one reason or another in gaining employment or both. Employment law is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and the mechanisms for dealing with allegations of breaches in the employment laws of the State are under his aegis. These mechanisms are the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court and they are the appropriate forum for dealing with allegations of such breaches.

In the event that allegations are upheld, applicant companies for section 481 must provide details of all WRC decisions relating to the qualifying company, the producer company or other companies in the film group, and where those decisions are a finding against such a company, confirmation that the finding has been followed or an explanation where the finding has not been followed must be provided.

I am a passionate advocate for diversity. As I am sure the Deputy is aware, I would not condone blacklisting or discrimination of any kind. I have introduced policies that highlight the need for inclusion of all. The work of the skills division of Screen Ireland has been particularly important in improving hiring practices in the audiovisual industry. Screen Ireland states that open hiring practices have increased to the extent that crew calls are now becoming commonplace for most productions. Crew calls mean that there is an open application process so that everyone can apply for crew positions in that production. This is for the industry and those working in it including those who may be marginalised, from minorities or from disadvantaged backgrounds. My Department has been informed that 2022 had the highest number of productions providing placements for disadvantaged groups.

More broadly, as I referred to earlier, the Safe to Create programme incorporates zero tolerance of seven damaging behaviours including victimisation. Victimisation occurs when there is adverse treatment of a worker in reaction to a complaint made by the employee or worker. It is intended that free online training in tackling bullying and harassment and in unconscious bias will be undertaken by all in the audiovisual industry. Training in these areas should further protect the rights of vulnerable or marginalised workers.

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