Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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93. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment whether he has had any recent engagements with stakeholders in the Irish film and audiovisual industry about improving income, employment security and other rights to those working in the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43537/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Officials from my Department have previously engaged with officials from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media as the Department with policy responsibility for the film and audiovisual industry in Ireland.

I have responsibility for a robust suite of employment rights legislation which protects all workers, including those employed in the film and audiovisual industry. It is important to note that all employers, regardless of sector, are responsible for ensuring that their employees receive the protections afforded them under employment legislation. There is no exemption or separate category under Irish employment law for individuals working in the film, TV and audio-visual sectors.

It is my understanding that work in the film, TV and audio-visual sectors is typically project based. As such, workers are often hired on fixed-term contracts for the duration of a project. Specifically, the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 transposes Council Directive 1999/70/EC concerning the Framework Agreement on Fixed-term Work. It provides for the improvement of the quality of fixed-term work by ensuring the application of the principle of non-discrimination (i.e. fixed-term workers may not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent workers). The Act also provides for the establishment of a framework to prevent abuse arising from the use of successive fixed-term employment contracts.

If an employee has worked on the basis of a fixed-term contract and has had two or more fixed term contracts, the combined duration of the contracts is limited to a maximum of four years. After this, if the employer wishes the employee to continue in its employment, it must be on the basis of a contract of indefinite duration unless the employer has objective grounds for renewing the contract of employment again on a fixed-term basis. Reasons for renewing a fixed-term contract have been held to be reasonably justified if they:

(a) correspond to a real need on the part of the undertaking,

(b) are appropriate with a view to achieving the objective pursued, and

(c) be necessary to that end.

The Workplace Relations Commission is an independent body set up to adjudicate in individual cases. If an employee in the film, TV or audio-visual sectors has a query about their employment status or believe they may not be receiving all of the protections they are entitled to, the WRC is there to help, through the provision of information as well as an adjudication service. The WRC also operates a labour inspection service to ensure compliance with employment legislation.