Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. This is not my area of responsibility generally but I am delighted to be speaking on the Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2018. I acknowledge that the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, has covered very comprehensively what the Bill is trying to do and let me assure her that my party will be supporting the Bill. As is the case with some statutory bodies that receive public funding, a limit was set by statute on such outlay when the Irish Film Board was set up in 1980 and the Irish Film Board Act 1980 was enacted. The limit must be updated by the Houses of the Oireachtas every five to six years. It is as outlined by the Minister largely technical in nature and will allow Fís Éireann to raise the ceiling for the aggregate support provided to the film industry to €500 million.

In recent years the Irish production sector has expanded positively as a result of the inward production of big budget TV dramas, including programmes such as "The Tudors", "Vikings", "Penny Dreadful" and others, while also experiencing a golden age of home grown creativity in a diverse range of feature live action and animation production. Fís Éireann has played a very important role in this growth. The Fianna Fáil Party acknowledges that there are significant concerns however, regarding work practices in the industry and while it is not directly related to this Bill, the supports for both performers and workers in the industry have come under increased scrutiny in recent months. Although these issues fall outside the remit of the Bill, we believe the Government should continue engagement with representatives with a view to ensuring appropriate practices are in place where State funding has been provided. We will be hosting a briefing on the issue with representatives of the sector early in the new year.

I will certainly not be holding up the passage of this Bill. I appreciate that Minister is busy, as are Senators. We have six items on the agenda today and many more tomorrow and Thursday. We are here until 7 p.m. on Thursday, so I wish the Bill a speedy passage.