Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 13: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on the fact that no large scale Hollywood feature film has located here since 2003; and his further views on whether there must be a review of the structure and nature of State support for film in order to allow Ireland to compete in the international film market and to promote domestically produced films. [34805/06]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the efforts being made to attract international filmmakers to Ireland to shoot and produce their films here; if he has met with the new head of the Irish Film Board's US office in Los Angeles to discuss this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34804/06]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 35: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans for the extension of Section 481 beyond 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34873/06]

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 13, 31 and 35 together.

Primary responsibility for the support and promotion of film-making in Ireland in respect of both the indigenous sector and inward productions is a matter for the Irish Film Board. This agency is funded through my Department and is independent of the Department in its operations.

Funding from my Department to the Board in 2006 amounts to €19.426m, including an additional €2.3m. allocated in recent months. In further recognition of the importance of Ireland as a film location, I was pleased to note the recent opening by the Board of an office in Los Angeles and the appointment of a US Film Commissioner. This Film Commissioner will establish closer contacts with the leading studios in their homebase, and so help to further improve co-ordination of efforts to secure future inward productions to Ireland. Such Board appointments are a matter for that agency and I will meet the new appointee in the course of business.

Attracting major international productions to the State is a particularly complex business, subject, as it is, to the dynamics of international competition, including new and enhanced incentives; lower cost structures and exchange rates.

There is a constant need to react to changing circumstances, be it in the type of projects being developed, the audiences to be reached, or the markets to be targeted. The evidence of a capacity to adapt can be seen in the Short Film Oscar for "Six Shooter " and the Palme d'Or for "THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY" at the Cannes Film Festival.

My Department's direct function in supporting the film sector relates to the administration of elements of the Section 481 scheme. In addition to the increased supports granted to the Irish Film Board, the Government has reacted to the changing dynamics with major improvements to the Section 481 scheme, the most recent being in the Finance Act 2006. These changes lifted the maximum amount of a film budget that can be raised from €15m. to €35m. and increased the maximum percentage of a project's budget which can be raised from between 55%-66% to 80%. These changes represented the most significant improvements ever in the scheme and were designed to increase Ireland's attractiveness as a film-making location.

In conjunction with the Irish Film Board, the total effects of these initiatives are constantly kept under review. Further consideration of the operation of the Section 481 scheme will be based on the experience over time of the latest changes.

I am pleased to note however, the incentives for which we have responsibility have been successful in attracting some major Television productions to the State in the past 12 months, including the US drama series "the Tudors", and "Rough Diamond".

I wish to assure the Deputies that I exercise a close scrutiny of the effects of these incentives and am committed to examining ways of developing the Irish film sector and supporting Ireland's competitiveness abroad.