Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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71. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is planning to amend employment legislation to improve employment rights and job security of film workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6603/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I have responsibility for a robust suite of employment rights legislation that 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 to them under employment legislation.

There is no exemption or separate category under Irish employment law for individuals working in the film sector. Employment rights legislation, including the National Minimum Wage, Payment of Wages, Organisation of Working Time, Employment Equality Acts, Health and Safety, Terms of Employment (Information) Act and Unfair Dismissals Act (in certain circumstances), apply horizontally across all sectors.

The Deputy will be aware that work in the film sector is often project based. As such, workers are often hired on fixed-term contracts for the duration of a project.

The Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Workers) Act 2003 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 employees may not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees). The Act transposes EU Directive 1999/70/EC concerning the Framework Agreement on Fixed-term Work into Irish law.

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 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, the contract will be deemed to 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.

Robust mechanisms exist within the State for the determination of the employment status of individuals or groups. A revised ‘Code of Practice on Determining Employment Status’ was published in October 2024 by the Minister for Social Protection. The Code is the key guidance document for employers and workers and others in relation to deciding the employment status of a worker. It was revised to take account of recent labour market developments, including platform work and the October 2023 Supreme Court ruling in relation to Domino’s pizza delivery drivers.

The Workplace Relations Commission is an independent body set up to adjudicate in individual cases. If an employee in the film sector 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.

Lastly, the recently established Employment Law Review Group will provide independent advice to me as Minister through its agreed work programme on matters relating to employment and redundancy law.