Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698135862435.pdf (Ireland)
[JCCHG – 333] Comment [PO1]: Email 14/02/2018 To Whom it may concern, For ten years I have had a successful career within the film industry in Ireland, it is a vocation for me.

The film industry is a very unique and fluid practise - unlike any other employment structure, however, it is the same in Ireland as it is in every country across the world.

It would seem strange to anyone on the outside of this circle that we operate on a job to job basis without permanent employment.
But this structures allows a variety of small and large Film and TV Shows to get made.

What it is lacking are pension and benefit entitlements that other countries do have and which I believe we can make work here successfully.
I have been recently viewing the Oireachtas committee debates about film industry employment practises and I believe that a number of TD's/Senators have been mis - led and ill informed, specifically by groups claiming to represent the lions share of workers within the industry, the largest of them being IFWA.

IFWA are trying to change the entire structure and nature of the industry by forging a permanent employment structure, that I Believe in the end will destroy the industry and we know it.
Much of the industry do not agree with IFWA practises and regulations and are currently fighting against it, including guilds representing the other departments, none of whom have an issue with future benefit schemes and None of whom were represented in the Oireachtas in the past few weeks.

What I think is not understood - is the bullying / harassment and intimidation inflicted on non union crew members who are not represented by IFWA - I have witnessed and experienced this first hand.
IFWA have no registered website, rules or regulations that can be followed by a member of the industry, their "rules" are arbitrary and archaic.

They are completely transparent and operate in a way that they cannot be held accountable for their actions.

They operate on bully tactics to harass their own members and others around them.

They are not advocates for healthy working practises.
We all want schemes put in place for trainee's and for there to be a better system in place for upgrading - we all want future benefit schemes such as pensions, but the very idea of permanent employment goes against the very nature of the film industry itself - not just here in Ireland, but world wide.
The film industry is responsible for a significant job creation in this country - from large scale production companies making world class TV drama and film - to companies making independant films [JCCHG – 333] and documentaries for national and international broadcast.

The restrictions that IFWA wish to put in place will crush any chance for smaller companies to survive and drive away any investment from international companies wishing to use Ireland as their base.
This is a unique employment structure that is on the brink of complete chaos, I urge to put a forward a permanent government representative that can work along side the official unions and create a working environment that is beneficial to the entire industry to make sure section 481 is used in a creative and lawful way to benefit the industry at large.

Yours sincerely Louise Mathews Louise Mathews Production Designer - "Animals" M: +353 (0)86 0868288