Film-makers take role in tax break plea

THE country’s top film-makers and screenwriters appealed to the Government yesterday not to axe the valuable tax incentives enjoyed by the Irish film industry.

Oscar-winning director Neil Jordan, screenwriter Roddy Doyle and directors Conor McPherson, Aisling Walsh and Gerry Stembridge are heading a campaign to retain the lucrative tax incentives.

They said the tax breaks had driven the successful Irish film industry in the past 10 years generating 180 films and TV dramas.

Mr Walsh, director of the critically-acclaimed Song For A Raggy Boy, said: "I had to leave this country in the '80s because we did not have a film industry. Now that we have it, we should hold on to it and not allow it to die overnight."

Ms Jordan said: "If I was making Michael Collins today I wouldn't be making it here without tax breaks. I would probably be forced to film in London, or the Isle of Man.

Award-winning writer Mr Doyle said: "It would be criminal if Irish films were not being made and a shame if all we had to watch in our cinemas were foreign-made films."

The directors and screenwriters joined forces with the Screen Producers of Ireland (SPI) yesterday to launch their bid to stop Arts Minister John O'Donoghue axing the tax breaks next January.

They want Mr O'Donoghue to extend the tax breaks for another 10 years to allow the Irish film industry to continue to blossom and cultivate young Irish talent.

The tax incentive has provided a three-to-one return to the Exchequer on its investment, according to a SPI economic report.

"The number of people working in the film industry here would more than double from 4,500 to 11,000 if the minister did not axe this tax incentive," SPI spokesman Alan Moloney said.

This incentive was first introduced following the success of Jordan's Oscar-winning film, The Crying Game, in 1993.

Mr O'Donoghue's spokesman could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael yesterday called on the Government to honour its commitment to the arts sector by allocating a budget of €61.8 million to the Arts Council next year, as promised in the Programme for Government.

Deputy Jimmy Deenihan claimed more than 1,000 jobs had been lost in the sector since the Government revised the arts budget downwards by €9m.