John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to introduce the Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025. This Bill was initiated in the Seanad on 14 November. I look forward to hearing the contributions of Senators here and I hope they will support this important Bill. Officials from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport are here with me today and are available to any Senator who wants to have a detailed briefing on the technical aspects of this legislation before us.

This is a short technical Bill. The Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 has one important objective, namely, to increase the statutory limit on the cumulative capital outlay, commitments and liabilities that can be advanced by Screen Ireland, formerly known as the Irish Film Board, from €500 million to €840 million. As is the case with some statutory bodies which receive public funding, a limit was set by statute on such outlays when the Irish Film Board Act 1980 was first enacted. This limit must be reviewed by the Houses of the Oireachtas every six to seven years. In this way, the Oireachtas can monitor cumulative capital funding to this statutory body each time the limit needs to be increased. Since the Irish Film Board Act 1980 was first enacted, the funding limit was adjusted upwards on six occasions. The most recent was the Irish Film Board (Amendment) Act 2018, which increased the limit to €500 million. It is now proposed, therefore, to increase this limit to €840 million to allow Screen Ireland to continue to operate within an appropriate statutory limit. When the total 2025 capital allocation is drawn down, it is expected that the limit of €500 million permitted within the current legislation will have been reached. The 2026 capital allocation would breach the statutory limit in the absence of new legislation. Accordingly, it is important to progress the process to update the legislation to increase this aggregate further.

The proposal to increase the limit on advances is an enabling provision. Funding of Screen Ireland is, of course, subject to the normal estimates procedures as set out by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. The proposed legislation will not, therefore, mean any additional cost to the Exchequer as Screen Ireland’s annual allocation is set by the Oireachtas each year. Section 2 cites this Bill as the Irish Film Board (Amendment Bill) 2025, and together with the Irish Film Board Acts 1980 to 2018 will be cited as the Irish Film Board Acts 1980 to 2025.

Screen Ireland is the national development agency for Irish screen sectors, including feature film, TV drama, animation, creative documentary and gaming. Screen Ireland operates within the framework of the Irish Film Board Acts 1980 to 2018. Its statutory remit is to assist, encourage and develop the screen sectors across the State. Screen Ireland supports these sectors by providing investment loans for the development, production and distribution of film, television and animation projects. The allocation to Screen Ireland will be €42.96 million in 2026. This is an increase of €2.1 million, or 5.1% on the amount allocated this year.

Screen Ireland is the creative partner to the screen sector, investing in talent, creativity and enterprise, with a comprehensive range of practical funding supports across development, production, distribution, promotion and skills development. Since 2018, Screen Ireland has assisted in the production of 115 feature film projects, 44 TV dramas, 80 documentaries, 41 animation projects, and 69 short films. Screen Ireland has also supported projects for distribution and has seen the development of over 1,100 projects in the period. Senators may be familiar with some of the fantastic Irish-based TV dramas made possible in recent years by Screen Ireland’s support. These include "Obituary", "The Dry", "Hidden Assets", "The Young Offenders" and "The Walsh Sisters". Feature films include "Small Things Like These", "That They May Face the Rising Sun", and the Irish-language film "Báite". One to watch out for is "Saipan", a film coming to our cinemas in January about the events of the 2002 World Cup and staring young Cork actor Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane, alongside Steve Coogan. This is very appropriate and apt this week given that the heroics of the Irish soccer team mean we might reach the 2026 World Cup. These are just a few of the many wonderful productions with which Screen Ireland has been involved.

Screen Ireland operates a dual approach to industry development. It is one that maintains a balance between indigenous productions and incoming internationally mobile projects, which creates a range of opportunities for Irish creatives to work in partnership with Irish or international studios. The success of this approach has resulted in a stronger and more sustainable environment for screen production. As our screen industries continue to grow, balance and partnership remain a priority alongside an enhanced focus on sustainable production. Screen Ireland is committed to the development of the indigenous audiovisual industry into the future, supported by the agency’s strategic plan for 2025 to 2029 and working with all stakeholders and industry partners to collectively deliver on the Government’s ambition to establish Ireland as a global production hub. As an agency, Screen Ireland remains deeply committed to best practice and the principles of sustainability in all aspects of industry development, including environmental protection, green production, dignity in the workplace and nationwide development.

A skilled workforce in the screen sector is a crucial component for the development and maintenance of our screen industries. Screen Ireland has a skills and training division that is responsible for monitoring the needs of the screen sectors and ensuring that those needs are met at all levels.This is achieved through partnership and collaboration, building a stronger ecosystem, supported by stakeholder organisations, Screen Ireland’s national talent academy network and Irish production companies nationwide.

The national talent academies network is a recent initiative of Screen Ireland and includes the national talent academy for film and television led by Ardán in Galway, the national talent academy for animation led by Animation Ireland, the national talent academy for VFX led by Cultural and Creative Industries Skillnet, and three regional crew academies in Galway, Limerick and Wicklow. The network has been established to develop a highly skilled, diverse talent and crew base throughout the country, offering a wide range of activities for the Irish screen industry, including courses, programmes and career opportunities. The overarching aim of the national talent academies is to address and support current educational skills gaps in the screen sector and support the next generation of creatives, film-makers, producers, directors, screenwriters, animators, VFX artists, game developers and production crew. The approach that Screen Ireland has taken is the envy of many of our competitors around the world.

Screen Ireland aims to support and promote Irish film, television and animation through fostering Irish artistic vision and our diverse creative and production talent, growing audiences, and attracting film-makers and investment into the country. Recent years have been significant in terms of Irish creative talent and the Irish screen industries, not only for the commercial and critical plaudits of Irish film at home but also on the international stage. Our highly trained and skilled shooting and construction crews are crucial in making Ireland an attractive location for projects with record-breaking productions like "Wednesday" locating here.

The Irish film industry is in a strong position; this is the result of years of investment by Irish Governments. The need for continued Government investment is vital to build on these success stories. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels and we will not do so. We must seek out new opportunities to give our industry the help is deserves. In 2025, the 8% scéal uplift to section 481’s existing 32% tax incentive was introduced for live action and animated feature films with a budget of less than €20 million. Budget 2026 announced a new 8% uplift to the section 481 tax credit for visual effects. The former Minister, Paschal Donohoe, also announced improvements to the digital games tax credit. These enhancements add to announcements in recent budgets of an increase to €125 million in the cap for section 481 productions as well as a new unscripted tax credit of 20% that is expected to come onstream in the coming months. These are examples of the Government's support to a rapidly changing sector. We will continue as a Government to support this going forward. The Bill is a further example of that, in being willing to increase the cap that is in place from €500 million to €840 million so that we can support Screen Ireland to support all of the sectors within that going forward.