Derek McDowell (Labour)

That is a separate agenda, which we could debate, on what the future holds for the ESB or how regulation works in the electricity supply service. Unfortunately, it is one of the disadvantages of competition in a service such as electricity supply or generation. It is argued that it is necessary to increase the price before we can have competition. There is a separate argument about the ESB in which we should not get involved. The Government should be honest and clearly acknowledge that there is such a policy and defend it on the basis that it wants to keep direct taxes down. That is fair enough, but it should be honest and upfront about it.

I echo what other Members said about section 481. I am not one of those who takes the view that one should cut out all tax reliefs or tax loopholes, as some people call them. One must look at tax relief schemes in the context of what they are trying to achieve. If they are not achieving something which would not otherwise happen, then it is fine to cut them out. However, there is evidence that section 481 has stimulated the film industry in a positive way. A few years ago the Minister tried to improve the verification processes. In other words, he changed the criteria regarding the need to give local people a certain number of jobs and the need to generate money locally as well as ensuring that a certain amount came from elsewhere. The evidence suggests that was broadly successful. There is some evidence that in the absence of film relief or other incentives to the film industry, the industry in this country will be at a significant disadvantage internationally. Before the Minister carries out his threat to eliminate the relief, he should look at it one last time because it merits it and there is cross-party support for its continuation.

I am conscious that this is an in-between debate in that we have only part of the information and the rest will come next week in the budget. We will have another bite of the cherry next week.