Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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7. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to review the present system of tax relief that operates in the film industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40724/17]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I have already asked this question of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation but I have never been able to get a full answer. I want to pre-empt the question by saying I fully support the arts industry and the attempt to increase the production of film and create jobs. However, there is a problem with what is known as section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. I ask the Minister to make a statement on the review of that measure, what he thinks of it and whether we can have proper oversight of it.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Prior to 2015, film relief took the form of an investor tax relief which provided an incentive to individual and corporate taxpayers to invest in Irish film production. The relief was granted by way of a deduction from total income of the amount invested for the year of assessment in which the qualifying film investment was made. The Finance Act 2013 amended the scheme such that, rather than providing relief to investors, instead, from 1 January 2015, a payable tax credit of 32% is payable directly to a producer company.  The tax credit reduces the corporation tax liability of the producer company in that period.  Where the tax credit exceeds the tax due for the qualifying period, the tax credit will be a payable credit.  The current scheme is due to expire on 31 December 2020.

As it concerns tax expenditure, section 481 is subject to the requirements of my Department in regard to tax expenditure guidelines. A full analysis and review of that section will be undertaken prior to any announcement on the extension of the relief and this will be done well in advance of any potential extension beyond 2020.

In terms of the operation of the scheme to date, the most up-to-date figures I have available are that the provisional number of claimants of the tax credit in 2015 was 1,102, with a cost to the Exchequer of €69.7 million.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I want to ask about oversight of this tax break. Surely if the State is to dispense such a generous scheme, while I agree with it dispensing generous schemes to encourage the arts and the film industry, should the State not have some oversight of how the scheme is administered? I have evidence that shows widespread abuse of this scheme, and I am sure other Deputies also have such evidence because, when people come to us, they come to many different parties and groups. The abuse is of the workers themselves in the way they are used by the film industry, where very highly trained workers are often taken on as trainees and told there are no other positions available. In this way, the industry uses camera crew, sound men and other types of trained professionals at a very cheap rate. This probably links in to the increased use of precarious, illegitimate and bogus contracts in this country. Employers seem to be finding any scheme possible to undermine workers' rights and I think this scheme is being used in that abuse.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I have a later question from Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett about this general issue and I have some broader figures in regard to the issue raised by Deputy Smith that I will be sharing with him as well.

In regard to the two ways in which this scheme is overseen, it is done both at departmental level and then by the Revenue Commissioners. Regarding the work that happens through the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and her Department, applicants can only access this tax relief if they receive a tax certificate from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, having regard to the category of the film and the contribution it will make either to the film industry in the State or the promotion or expression of Irish culture. Therefore, the policy end is overseen by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

In regard to the concerns Deputy Smith has on the protection of employees, the Revenue Commissioners now also have to issue a certificate highlighting how the employer has to comply with particular forms of legislation. The Revenue Commissioners require that if an organisation or a company receives the section 481 approval letter, they must be satisfied the organisation or company is compliant with the law in regard to the taxation Acts, capital gains tax Acts, the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 and all social welfare and pensions Acts.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That all sounds very good but the reality is that some €7 billion has been given to the industry in the past 15 years in tax breaks, which is very generous. Although I do not disagree with that if it is performing the function it set out to perform, which is to give training and to nurture homegrown talent instead of abusing workers' rights, then it is absolutely the right thing to do. However, what we find in reality is that there is a very high degree of abuse of the workers within the industry and, in some cases, tax breaks are being given to companies which do not even film in Ireland, which cannot be legitimate. We need better oversight than what the Minister has described, whereby the Revenue Commissioners demand certain certificates and criteria and the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht gets them to sign a form that says this, that or the other, while there is no actual oversight of the administration of the scheme. As we have seen, and the Minister will be discussing this with other Deputies later, there is a gross abuse of workers' rights taking place across all industries at the moment. If one industry does it, they are all going to copy that because they seem to be able to get away with it.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I take this opportunity to ask the Minister a question I raised with him and his predecessors previously. As Minister for Social Protection, I commissioned a study and review which was to be carried out between the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Finance. I cannot for the life of me understand, unless this has been released yesterday or today, why that study has never been published given that it has been available for possibly up to a year. The report was based on submissions, including very detailed submissions by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. If we had the information that is held in that report, we could perhaps identify a way of moving forward in regard to this very difficult issue for workers who are forced to become self-employed when, in fact, they are traditional employees.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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What is the Deputy's question?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I think I know what the Deputy's question is; I believe she is referring to the report entitled, Consultation on the use of intermediary-type structures and self-employment arrangements-----

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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And bogus self-employment.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy raised that report with me in recent parliamentary questions. I have checked its status and I expect the report will be published very soon and may well provide a framework for, or insights into, dealing with this issue.

In regard to the point Deputy Collins put to me, or rather Deputy Smith-----

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is fine. The Minister will get used to me eventually.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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In regard to the point Deputy Smith put to me on the statistics on the operation of the scheme, I have the figures for 2016 and 2017 on the number of companies and films. For example, in 2016 it was 54 companies in respect of 74 films; and in 2017 up to the end of the first quarter, it was 15 companies in respect of 21 films. I have a list of all of the films or productions that received the grant. If the Deputy has any concern in regard to the employment terms or how that relief is being transferred on the ground, she might make those specific examples available to me and I will certainly share them with either the Revenue Commissioners or the relevant agency.

The purpose of this relief is to translate it into cultural activity that delivers good employment and meets the policy objectives I have described. For the information of the House, I understand that across 2015 and 2016 some 3,415 full-time jobs were created in this sector, much of which we attribute to this policy.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Perhaps the Minister would email the lists to me.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Yes.