Retain film making tax incentive

The five Sinn Féin TDs have called on the Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, to reverse his decision to eliminate the film making tax incentive contained in Section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. The TDs made their call in a motion published on Tuesday.

Pointing to the many high quality large budget films (including Braveheart, Michael Collins and Intermission) located and made in Ireland, benefiting from Section 481, and the resultant employment and training availed of by thousands of people, the TDs assert that this industry has managed to showcase Ireland and Irish talents with a resultant increase in tourism and tourism revenue.

Speaking before his attendance at a meeting of the Finance and Public Service Committee on Wednesday dealing with the issue, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Arts and Culture, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, said: "Section 481 represents a 20-year public investment in the film industry and should be recognised as a resounding success and an investment incentive vital for the continued existence and growth of the Irish film industry.

"That industry can generate €500 million in revenue to the Exchequer and can employ up to 11,000 people between now and 2010. In doing so, it can also encourage the creativity of the Irish nation and inject vital capital into local, urban and rural economies otherwise starved of investment.

"Section 481 has, therefore, more than justified its introduction in terms of revenues generated for the Irish economy."

Limerick garda review must be extended

Sinn Féin Dáil spokesperson on Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, welcomed Tuesday's announcement by the Minister for Justice to review deployment of Garda resources in Limerick in light of the collapse of the Keane murder trial on Monday.

The trial collapsed in unprecedented fashion when six prosecution witnesses denied making statements that were crucial to the case against Liam Keane (left). McDowell promised €2 million in funding and hinted that the witnesses statements may yet be used, citing precedents in Canadian law.

"I very much welcome Michael McDowell's announcement that he is to review the deployment of Garda resources in Limerick," said Ó Snodaigh. "However, I would strongly encourage him to extend this review to the entire state on an urgent basis. I would encourage him to particularly or at the very minimum include all inner-city areas where crime is concentrated. I would also encourage him to do so on an urgent basis so that the findings can inform allocations under Budget 2004. Importantly, I believe these findings should be made public and publicly available in the interests of full transparency and community accountability."