Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 March 2013
46. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way section 481 of the Irish film and television tax incentive published in the Finance Bill will assist the production of indigenous programmes and films; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13134/13]
View answerThe whole area of the development of the Irish audiovisual industry was examined during the preparation of the Creative Capital Report – Building Ireland's Audiovisual Creative Economy. The Report was published in July 2011 and an implementation committee to pursue the execution of its recommendations has been established. One of the main recommendations in the Report is the extension of the Section 481 Scheme until the end of 2020; it was previously approved until the end of 2015.
In his budget speech last December, the Minister for Finance, Mr Michael Noonan, T.D., announced that the Section 481 Scheme will be extended to 2020. An important and significant change will mean that the scheme will operate as a tax credit model from 2016. This will allow an extended lead-in period to enable the sector to adapt to the change to a tax credit model.
This very good news has been welcomed by the sector. The extension of this scheme gives a great deal of certainty to the Irish audiovisual sector to the end of this decade. I believe that it will be a major factor in the continued growth of the sector and I understand that the pipeline of potential projects is now building steadily.
