The Deputy is referring to the Report of the Joint Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht entitled Development and Working Conditions in the Irish Film Industry, published in July 2018.
Recommendation 4 of that Report called on the Irish Film Board (now Screen Ireland) to reconstitute the board's film forum, with an independent chair, to allow all stakeholders in the sector to meet and work together to develop mutually beneficial solutions for the industry. In December 2018, Screen Ireland reported on the work it had undertaken to the Joint Committee explaining that it was not possible to constitute a forum as not all the stakeholders referred to by the Joint Committee were prepared to meet as a single forum. In May 2019, my predecessor took part in a debate in this House on the Report. In the interim, it had been suggested that the film forum would be used for airing grievances. The Minister explained that the purpose of the forum in the first place was to allow stakeholders to come together, in a collaborative and inclusive manner to exchange ideas and to develop solutions for the good of the industry and that it would be inappropriate for a State Agency to bring stakeholders together to air disputes or to express their general dissatisfaction with one another. There are formal state mechanisms for the resolution of Industrial Relations issues, including the Workplace Relations Commission.
Screen Ireland funding and Section 481 funding is allocated and paid to producers and I can confirm that the representatives of producers – Screen Producers Ireland and Animation Ireland- were not among the stakeholders unwilling to attend a forum.
Over the past number of months, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has been conducting an audit of the audiovisual industry and has accepted submissions from stakeholders on employment practices and procedures in the Irish Film and Television Drama Production Sector. The WRC is examining these submissions to assess any issues arising and may make recommendations. I keenly await the outcome of that process.
