Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and acknowledge the import of her speech. I support the objective of the legislation before us. Funding of €20.4 million has been provided in the budget and tax breaks remain in place to encourage film making, animation and all that our fantastic artists have to offer, which I welcome. This is an area that can grow and flourish in the global village. Irish culture and the Irish approach to creativity is renowned internationally. In that context, this Bill is very welcome. The Minister is a great advocate for the arts and film. I compliment her and her Department on their work on Vótáil 100 and the creative side of that commemoration.

I agree with some of the points made by Senator Warfield. In order for the film industry to grow and become the type of industry of which we can be proud, all stakeholders must be treated properly and fairly by international standards. We must strive to achieve that. What is the return to the Exchequer from its investment in Screen Ireland? What is the spin-off in terms of jobs and the geographical spread of those jobs? It is well know that the creative economy can be developed further and I would like that development to happen in rural areas as well as in cities. Even in the most far flung and remote areas of Mayo, the amount of creativity that exists on so many levels is astounding. There are many professional artists as well as people who are just generally interested in art and creativity and the fusion of their energies leads to more creativity. It is really inspiring. I ask the Minister to provide more details on what is happening on the ground in terms of the facts and figures supporting the investment that the Government is rightly making in film in Ireland.