Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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43. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht her Department's role in the certification of section 481 film relief and in monitoring compliance with the quality employment and training conditions of that relief; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47960/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Applications for a certificate for qualifying films for the purpose of Section 481 tax relief are received and processed by officials in my Department and a Certificate is issued if the application complies with the requirements of Section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, as amended, and the Film Tax Regulations 2019.

Where a certificate is issued in relation to a qualifying film, and all provisions of Section 481 have been complied with, a producer company may make a claim to the Revenue Commissioners for the film corporation tax credit.

Where eligible expenditure is expected to be under €2 million, a skills development plan is submitted directly to this Department. For all projects where eligible expenditure is expected to exceed €2 million, the Producer Company must submit a Skills Development Plan to Screen Skills Ireland which is the training division of Screen Ireland for approval. A letter from Screen Ireland stating it has reviewed and approved the Skills Development Plan should accompany the application.

The 2019 Film Tax Regulations include a requirement for a signed undertaking to be provided from the producer company and the qualifying company to comply with all obligations in the field of environmental, social and employment law. The producer company and the qualifying company must be responsible for compliance with all statutory requirements of an employer, and have in place written policies and procedures on Grievances, Discipline and Dignity at Work (including harassment, bullying and equal opportunity). The companies are also required to provide details of any Work Place Relations Commission decisions aligned with confirmation that any findings against the companies have been followed or an explanation where the finding has not been followed.

It is also a requirement that a post-project skills development report be submitted to Screen Ireland for monitoring of the quality of the training.

If a producer does not comply with the employment and skills development requirements they may not be eligible for the corporation tax credit. The monitoring of compliance with employment rights legislation is the responsibility of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and the Labour Court, which are the mechanisms for regulating employment law in the State and which are under the aegis of my colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Should the WRC determine that a company in receipt of section 481 tax relief has not complied with the relevant employment rights legislation, any amounts claimed may be recoverable with interest.