Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 July 2014
412. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if increased funding will be provided for film production here; if she will provide in tabular form the amounts provided annually for film production over the past ten years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32352/14]
View answerPrimary responsibility for the support and promotion of film-making in Ireland in respect of both the indigenous sector and inward productions is a matter for the Irish Film Board (IFB). The IFB is the statutorily independent agency responsible for the promotion and development of the Irish film industry and I have no responsibility in relation to its day-to-day operational matters, including policies and the allocation of resources to different support programmes and schemes. My Department's operational role in supporting the film sector relates to the administration of elements of section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 that provides tax relief for investments in qualifying films. This involves the administration of certain elements of the scheme which relate to the fulfilment of the cultural criteria. The types of film eligible for certification are feature films, television drama, creative documentary and animation.
With regard to the amounts provided annually for film production over the past ten years, I would refer the Deputy to the published Annual Reports of the IFB, which list the film projects which received grants from the Board each year (see http://www.irishfilmboard.ie/irish_film_industry/reports/). I am informed that the extraction and compilation of the information requested by the Deputy into tabular form would involve a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources, especially those of the IFB, which could not be justified in the circumstances.
