The report (available here was launched after many months of Committee meetings, stakeholder submissions and draft versions of the document.
The 11 Conclusions and Recommendations of the Report are as follows:
1. Section 481 is a key and central component within the Irish Film Industry. This fact is accepted by the vast majority of
the industry’s stakeholders. Section 481 will remain central in the industry into the future.
2. Amongst certain sectors and grades of the industry, concerns exist with regard to working terms and conditions. There are concerns that these can impact workers with regards to income, redundancy and pension entitlements. They can also affect workers’ ability to communicate real workplace difficulties as workers without permanent contracts must be constantly rehired. It is the view of the Committee that the Government should seek to make working arrangements more secure. Film companies should comply with all labour and other laws in relation to employment and self-employment. The Committee calls on the Government to develop plans that ensure gaps in work are counted towards employment rights and redundancy.
3. The Committee seeks the reform of training in the sector to ensure that all training has a recognised qualification where possible, has a beginning and an end, and that trainees are not forced to repeat specific training. The Committee proposes that there be a wider geographical spread of training courses, the introduction of formal apprenticeships and additional finance to improve this training and development.
4. The Committee calls on the Irish Film Board to constitute the Board’s Film Forum, with an independent Chair, in order to allow all stakeholders within the sector to meet and work together to develop mutually beneficial solutions for the industry.
5. An international comparative study should be constituted to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the Section 481 tax credit. The Committee is not recommending the abolition of the credit, far from it, but its evolution, to ensure that certain foreign investment is not being lost as a result of its current form. Attention must be focused on how Section 481 can be improved to develop rich productive and sustainable indigenous film industry capacity.
6. Workers within the craft grades of the industry should have representatives nominated to the Irish Film Board to feed in their perspectives and needs into the industry’s development.
7. The Committee calls for collective bargaining rights of freelance workers.
8. The Committee calls for state support for the precarious existence of actors and sustainable pension structures for workers within the Irish film industry.
9. The Committee seeks the further integration of the film industry on a north/south basis with the creation of formal north/south structures, development plans and investment.
10. The Committee calls on the unions and the representative organisations to work towards a mutually beneficial and respectful understanding.
11. Public funding and adherence to employment standards should be linked.