Donal Carey
Question:68 Mr. D. Carey asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands the number of international films which were started here during 2000; and the number of jobs which were created. [15797/01]
Written Answers. - Film Industry.
My Department's responsibility in the film area relates to the granting of certificates under section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997. This is a tax-based incentive scheme aimed at encouraging investment in film production in the State. The Deputy will be aware that following consideration of the strong case put forward by me on the basis of the review group's report, the Minister for Finance in budget 2000 agreed to an unprecedented extension of the current section 481 tax relief scheme until April 2005 and increased the limits on the amounts production companies can raise under this scheme.
In the year 2000, a total of 28 such projects which are not described as international or otherwise were certified under this scheme, 18 of which were films and ten were for TV broadcast. It is not possible to state definitively how many projects actually started in 2000.
Statistics relating to the number of jobs created in the sector are compiled on an annual basis by the Audio-visual Federation of IBEC, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation. I understand the statistics for 2000 are not yet available.