Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputies Ó Snodaigh and Ó Murchú for their good wishes. I acknowledge the input of Members of this House, including those I just mentioned, on matters concerning the audiovisual sector in recent years, including through the examination at the Committee on Budgetary Oversight.

My officials have directly engaged with all relevant representative bodies in the sector, including those representing crew, cast, and producers, to understand the issues affecting the audiovisual sector and to try to chart a pathway forward. The attention brought to issues in the sector by representative bodies, and by Members of this House, has contributed to real progress being achieved on many fronts. A key point for all of us to understand is there is a copyright directive on related legislation, which established overarching principles, in this case, the right to appropriate and proportional remuneration. The details of what exactly that entails, for example, the balance of remuneration between upfront daily rates and potential profit sharing post-release and differences between large and small productions need to be agreed between representative bodies in the industry with the overarching protection of the legislative proposals. In January 2025, an interim set of guidelines relating to copyright was agreed by a number of stakeholders in the sector in Ireland. This is a very welcome development and one I hope will lead to a permanent agreement in the sector. It is my understanding that stakeholders still continue to work proactively together and the group is working collectively on the next level of detail on the operations of the oversight committee, which will result in the implementation of these guidelines and a best practice approach to reporting. An Irish negotiated agreement, built upon the foundations already laid with the agreement of the interim set of guidelines is the best course for the sector to take.

Copyright law falls within the remit of the Department of the Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Copyright is relevant for many workers in the film sector, whether they are authors, producers, broadcasters and performers, and there are complex legal issues involved. Deputies may be aware, from previous discussions in the House and during Committee Stage of this Bill, and what I just outlined a moment ago, that a process is under way to address these issues. An independent facilitator was retained by Screen Ireland in 2023 to meet with a group of key stakeholders to identify and understand issues relevant to the digital Single Market directive, referred to as the copyright directive. As a result of that we have gotten to the point in relation to interim best practice industry guidelines while they pursue a path towards a collective bargaining agreement. There are clear precedents for this form of progress in the sector. Deputies will be aware that there has been significant progress in the terms and conditions provided to film workers over the last number of years, including negotiated crew agreements for film and construction crew. For example, the construction crew agreement, in addition to setting pay rates, provides for the extension of coverage for pension, sick leave and other benefits to industry construction workers under the construction workers pension scheme. It also provided for the establishment of a joint monitoring structure that helps to ensure the agreement is appropriately implemented.

It is appropriate for legal rights to be linked only to one set of circumstances, and I know that is not what the Deputies are hoping to achieve. We should not link legal rights only to a situation where a company avails of a tax credit. It is very important to recognise that the laws that underpin copyright apply regardless of whether a company applies for section 481, and they must apply equally. A company cannot choose to disapply the provisions of the copyright directive just because it is not applying for an allowance under the section 481. I acknowledge the constructive way in which this was put forward. I also acknowledge the work in this House and by Members, including Deputy Ó Snodaigh, has been very helpful in this regard but I am informed that good progress is being made and I do want an Irish negotiated agreement. We will continue to monitor this closely.

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