IFB to continue with a 5% cut
The Irish Film Board (IFB) lives to fight another day. The organization, which feared for its future after the Report of Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes (‘An Bord Snip Nua’) called for its abolition, has been granted a new lease of life by the Irish government who announced a €19.3 million IFB budget for 2010 – a 5% cut from 2009.
The decision comes after a detailed government review of the Irish arts sector was carried out following the Bord Report. IFB Chairman James Morris said, “I would like to acknowledge the role of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen in supporting the Irish Film Industry and the work of the IFB as the industry development agency. The support of the Government for the IFB is a strong endorsement of the economic value of the film and television production sector to the emerging digital economy. It is also an acknowledgement of the cultural value of Irish artistic and creative work in building Ireland’s international profile that emerged as a major conclusion of the Global Irish Economic Forum in Farmleigh earlier this year.”
The government has also decided to continue with Section 481, the Irish tax incentive for film and television, until the end of 2012.
Welcoming the news Andrew Lowe, Director of Element Pictures and Chairman of the Audiovisual Federation said, “The decision to retain the Irish Film Board and maintain it’s funding broadly at 2009 levels is a significant expression of support from Government for our industry.”
A recent survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers valued Ireland’s audiovisual content industry at over half a billion euro per annum and found that it now offers permanent employment to over 6,000 individuals.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
