Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:1. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with culture, arts and the audiovisual sector will next meet. [32551/23]
View answerTuesday, 26 September 2023
Questions (1, 2, 3, 4)
Mick Barry
Question:2. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with culture, arts and the audiovisual sector will next meet. [34046/23]
View answer
Paul McAuliffe
Question:3. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services will meet next. [37778/23]
View answerRichard Boyd Barrett
Question:4. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with social protection will next meet. [41218/23]
View answerOral answers (12 contributions)
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4 together.
The Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments in the areas of social policy and public services. The committee covers a range of topics, including immigration and integration, with a particular focus on equality and public service reform. Other topics covered by the committee include support, social protection, arts and culture, and justice issues such as policing reform, community safety and domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. The Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services will meet on 27 September and will continue to meet in the weeks ahead.
The Cabinet committee on economic recovery and investment oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments aimed at sustainable economic recovery, investment and job creation, including through the implementation of Harnessing Digital, our national digital strategy. Sectoral issues are discussed by the Cabinet committee as relevant and required, and this can include the audiovisual sector. The committee last met on 25 May and will meet again on 16 November. In addition to attending meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagement with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss priority issues relating to their Departments and government more widely.
For years now, at the request of film crews in the Irish film industry, I have been raising the systematic abuse of fixed-term contracts by film production companies in receipt of public money. In practice, they leave workers wide open to blacklisting if they do not toe the line. I have also been raising the campaign of Irish Equity, including the performers, writers, directors and so on, who are campaigning against the use of buyout contracts whereby they are to sign away their rights to future royalties for their work.
My committee, the budget scrutiny committee, undertook an investigation into some of these issues at my request. It issued a report essentially vindicating the concerns of actors, performers and writers, stating these issues need to be addressed along with the abuse of fixed-term contracts by film production companies. Indeed, there is quite a substantial Irish Equity campaign on the issue of the buyout contracts.
Is the Government going to do anything about the recommendations in the report on these issues? Are we going to treat the film crews, writers, actors and directors – the people who actually make films happen – with respect so they will have proper, quality employment and proper remuneration for the work they do to enhance the culture of us all and the film industry in this country and stop the outrageous behaviour by film producers who are getting large amounts of public money but treating film crews, performers and creative workers in such an unacceptable way?
The Tánaiste nailed his colours to the mast at the end of August when he voiced his support for a new universal household charge, based on devices, to replace the television licence.
Such a charge would hit more households than the TV licence, would represent a new charge in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and would be every bit as regressive as the TV licence. We are in the run-up to a general election and the Tánaiste has flown a controversial kite that is up there now flapping around in the breeze. I am giving the Taoiseach the opportunity to shoot it down today. I will be interested in what he has to say on the matter.
An Teachta Ruairí Ó Murchú.
I was not on the list. I may have put my hand up first.
If Deputy Ó Murchú would like to chair the debate, I will let him.
No, I was just looking after Deputy Paul Murphy.
Deputy Ó Murchú is extremely polite.
The clock is running.
I will follow up on the issues raised by Deputy Boyd-Barrett, about companies that take section 481 tax relief. There have been a considerable number of allegations, especially about workers' rights being over-ridden and blackballing when people make complaints. We understand that some of this relates to how the film industry works, in the sense that it is project by project which can allow for picking and choosing and for certain people to control the entire process. People do not have to take my word or that of Deputy Boyd-Barrett or others, including those who have come to us. One of the recommendations from the report of the Select Committee on Budgetary Oversight is that a stakeholders forum be held. We need support from the Government and would definitely need the Minister to engage. It would be successful if we could create a forum where people could voice all these issues and we could deal with them. Then we could get a better system. We are talking about public money and we are not getting bang for our buck as regards high-level employment and for the stake in what is for some a thriving industry.
Will the Government increase significantly in the budget the monthly rate of child benefit to help families struggling with the cost of living and will it help parents by funding childcare properly? The thousands of people protesting outside are a graphic illustration that the Government's policy of relying on the private sector to provide quality, affordable childcare has utterly failed. It is a failure for parents who pay some of the highest childcare fees in Europe. It is a failure for childcare workers who are still being paid poverty wages by private childcare operators and a failure for many small operators who are struggling to make ends meet while big change such as Giraffe and Safari Childcare have been raking in millions, even during the pandemic. This must stop. Will the Taoiseach commit to fully publicly funding childcare in the budget by abolishing childcare fees, increasing childcare workers' wages by at least €2 per hour as a step towards payscales on par with teachers and moving towards a fully publicly-owned, free, national childcare service.
I thank the Deputies for their questions. As Deputies will be aware, we have a set of minimum terms and conditions that apply to all employees. They have been improved in recent years, with, for example, the move to the living wage, more employment regulation orders, particularly in the private sector, the introduction of sick pay, which I was please to be involved in as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and the expansion of such things as parental leave. There is an issue around bogus self-employment. It is difficult to know how common it is. It certainly exists. The scope section in the Department of Social Protection has a role to play in that, as do the Revenue Commissioners.
I do not know enough about fixed term contracts in the audio-visual sector to give the Deputy a proper response, but I will ask my officials to prepare a detailed response for the Deputy.
One matter on which I agree with the Deputy is that the film and video sectors get a lot of support, sometimes through direct grants from the Government, from Screen Ireland, from the Arts Council and a lot through various tax incentives. It is important that they treat their staff and contractors decently. There are allegations of blackballing. I am sure it happens. I imagine it is hard to prove and I am not sure what suggestions come from the report. I have not had a chance to read it on that subject, but I know the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, will take an interest in it. I will certainly let her know it was raised here.
On the reform of the TV licence, while everyone is entitled to have an opinion on this, including Government Ministers, no decision has been made about it by the Government. We need to grasp the issue of funding RTÉ and public service broadcasting and media more generally. Decisions on that have been deferred down the years for many different reasons, good and bad. I want us to agree on a new system in the next few months, legislate for it in 2024 and ideally have it up and running in 2025. I have said that before.
There are different options, including Exchequer funding from central taxation which has its advantages. Many people would welcome not having to pay the TV licence fee every year, but ultimately someone has to pay. If it comes out of Exchequer funds, the taxpayer is still paying. There are also concerns about the power the Executive would then have to cut funding and so on. Some people have suggested that an independent commission could decide how much would be provided every year. That would not work. Inevitably independent commissions or bodies that recommend a certain amount of Government funding do so in isolation and do not have to make the trade-offs and kinds of decisions politicians have to make when the amount recommended by all the groups and experts simply does not add up to the amount available. The other option that has been discussed is a household charge that would be device independent. That would be fraught with difficulty. As someone who has been involved in introducing new taxes, I know it is never easy to do. Sometimes it is successful, sometimes it is not. I am not a fan of taxes or new taxes for that matter. That would be a difficult option to go for. If that option were chosen, we would have to continue to exempt a large number of households, as is the case now, such as pensioners and people on social welfare.
Deputy Paul Murphy asked about the budget. I appreciate the right of Deputies to ask what will be in the budget but I cannot answer because I do not know yet. It has not been agreed. It is still under negotiation between Ministers and has not yet been presented to the Government. Whether it be about child benefit or childcare fees, any announcement will be made on budget day by the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe. Child poverty and well-being will be a theme in the budget. I have made that commitment as Taoiseach and will be looking at a number of different measures we can introduce to reduce child poverty and improve child well-being. They will be across different areas including education, social protection and so on. We are working on that package at the moment.