Hundreds of Irish film students will face unemployment and emigration if plans go ahead to abolish tax breaks for film-making, the Government was warned yesterday.
Film educators met Screen Producers Ireland (SPI) at a briefing yesterday, where it was announced that 80 per cent of film and television work in the Republic would abruptly cease when Section 481 was removed in December 2004.
Mr Andrew Lowe, joint head of the SPI Film Sub Committee, said the Department of Education was wasting its money training 1,000 film students every year, when there would be no jobs for them after 2004.
The Department responded last night that "the universities are autonomous in deciding which courses to provide. In relation to the institute of technology sector, factors other than labour market demand would be borne in mind when approving courses (for example, demand for the course)."
Ms Áine O'Brien, head of the Department of Media Technologies at Dublin Institute of Technology, said film and television comprised "a complex industry" which generated a wide range of employment. Abolishing Section 481 would have a long-term effect and result in the downsizing of the film-industry.
"Section 481 is about infrastructure, not just about making big films. Film-making is very much an integral part of our cultural economy, tourism and development of new technologies," she said.
Currently, the industry employees 4,300 people directly and is indirectly responsible for a further 3,000 jobs, according to Mr Lowe. The Irish film industry contributes €107 million a year to GDP and attracts 136 million through inward investment.