I welcome the Budgetary Oversight Committee's Report and I would like to thank you Deputy and the other members of the Committee on the work done.
Recommendation number 14 is that the Committee recommends that both my Department and the Dept. of Finance convene a stakeholder forum to discuss how to maximise the benefits of the Section 481 credit for all concerned stakeholders and to facilitate best practice in employment rights, industrial relations, collective bargaining, address Copyright and Intellectual Property issues and any other relevant issues.
That specific recommendation is addressed to my Department and the Department of Finance and in this regard, my officials will be contacting the Department of Finance about how to move forward with the recommendation.
The Section 481 tax relief is a vital part of the financial infrastructure of the Irish audiovisual industry. The objectives of the relief are to act as a stimulus to the Irish audiovisual industry in the State, creating quality employment opportunities, upskilling workers across the industry, supporting the production of new audiovisual programming across areas of Irish culture and language, including Irish storytelling, giving full breadth to our heritage, experience, diversity and history, both fictional and factual and providing opportunities to export Irish culture on screen.
The recommendations include a range of issues including policy matters for my Cabinet colleagues. The Minister for Finance has responsibility for the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (as amended) the legislation governing Section 481. In particular, the Committee recommended the removing or raising the cap on Section 481 and retaining the regional uplift and I will be engaging with Minister McGrath on these matters in advance of the Budget. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has responsibility for Copyright matters, the EU Copyright Directive and matters relating to the Workplace Relations Commission.
I also note that the Committee itself is tasked with responsibility for some of the recommendations relating to the European Commission.
On the issue of Copyright, independently and in the interim since the Committee finished its engagement with witnesses, Screen Ireland has retained an independent facilitator to meet with key stakeholders to understand and discuss issues that have arisen as a result of and since the transposition into Irish law of the Copyright Directive. Individual stakeholder meetings have been held over the past nine weeks and the next phase of the process will be to engage in group discussions.
