| Irish Film Board At Risk of Abolishment |
|
|
|
| Written by Jennifer Marino | |
 Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board (BSÉ/IFB) is at risk of abolishment due to recommendation from the Report of Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes (An Bord Snip Nua), as they refer to BSÉ/IFB. The report also recommends the winding-up of the Irish Film Board’s investment funds and the transfer of its enterprise functions to Enterprise Ireland. Government funding, provided directly to the sector through BSÉ/IFB (€18.8m in 2009), is a main component of audiovisual content industry. The loss of employment due to the withdrawal of funding may cost the State more than it plans to save. Also at risk is the strategic importance of Ireland’s content industries to create a Smart Economy, as described in the Government’s recent policy paper “Building Ireland’s Smart Economy.” The Irish film industry may also be in jeopardy since a recent survey by Price Waterhouse Coopers valued Ireland’s audiovisual content industry at over half a billion euro per annum and found over 6,000 individuals permanently employed. The industry in turn supports many other indirect employment benefits generated from production activities, such as tourism, inward investment, trade in goods and services and private sector employment. The effectiveness of the agency’s policies and the efficiency of its operation, at a cost of 10 percent of its total annual funding, compare favorably to similar agencies in other European and English-speaking countries, as well as other Irish state agencies. |
