The Irish government has cut the budget of the Irish Film Board by 3% to €16 million (approx R150 million). Considering the dire state of the Irish economy, the cut is considered to be small. Ireland is currently seeking to secure a $95 billion international bailout.
The country’s 2011 budget was presented on Tuesday 7 December and revealed that the total spend on arts, culture and film was to be cut by 5% to $86.3 million.
In the past the Irish film and TV rebate did much to promote the country as a production location. The section 481 investment tax relief for the film and TV productions, worth up to 28% of a film’s local spend, will remain in place.
The Irish Film Board’s administration budget will however be cut by a hefty 12.3% to $3.2 million.
IFB chairman James Morris said: “The combination of ambitious creatively driven Irish projects and high-profile international productions all working in Ireland in the last year is set to continue into the year ahead on the basis of today’s budget.”
