The Minister for Arts, Heritage & the Islands, Sile deValera, T.D. has said that 2000 is another successful year for the Irish film industry.
Minister deValera said "I am encouraged by the high level of production activity this year. A rich and diverse array of indigenous productions is taking place, which reflects the vibrancy of the increasingly capable and self-confident indigenous film sector.
"To date fourteen film projects have been certified and a further seven applications are with my Department. The cumulative budget of projects certified to date is £66.7 million. This figure rises to £118.48 million when the applications on hand are included. The spend in Ireland for all of these projects comes to £60.85 million, already exceeding the full year figure for 1999 of £56.7 million."
Minister deValera also announced two important developments for the Irish film industry.
Firstly the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production will come into effect in Ireland this month following the ratification of this Convention.
The Minister said "I hope that Ireland’s ratification of this Convention will be fully availed of by Irish film producers in establishing partnerships with producers in other European countries."
Secondly, a Ministerial Order has been signed to bring into effect increases in the amounts which may be raised by producers under the Section 481 Tax Scheme for investment in film production. This follows the approval of the Scheme by the European Commission under the EU State aids rules.
This will result in the following ceilings :
- a maximum of 66% of the project’s budget for budgets of IR£4 million or less (up from a maximum of 60%)
- a maximum of 55% of the project’s budget for budgets of IR£5 million or more, subject of the £16.5 million ceiling (up from 50%)
