Animation Ireland calls for extension of 'critical' tax relief

James Cox

Animation Ireland, the business group representing Irish animation studios, has called on the Government to extend the 'crucial' Section 481 tax relief beyond 2024.

The group said this is necessary "so that world class film and television can continue to be produced in Ireland".

The Section 481 tax relief has aided the growth of the Irish animation sector, which provided a boost to the economy with 2,500 people employed across 42 studios.

Commenting after Animation Ireland’s appeal to the Government, chief executive Ronan McCabe said: "Section 481 has been crucial in the growth of the animation sector over the past ten years and without it, we just couldn’t compete on the global stage as we do now. The relief brings a huge number of jobs and expenditure into Ireland, but it also has an enormous positive impact on creativity and culture. Without Section 481, we might not have seen amazing Irish productions telling irish stories, such as the Oscar-nominated Wolfwalkers.’’

Mr McCabe added: "We hope that the Minister for Finance will announce a five-year extension of the relief up to 2029 and confirm that Section 481 is included as part of its long term policy for creative industries. We would also like to see an extension of the regional uplift element of the relief, which will see more productions take place outside of Dublin and make it easier for studies to attract staff, generating employment in rural towns.’’

Over the last number of years, Ireland has been home to some major productions such as The Bob’s Burgers Movie, The Cuphead Show, Vampirina and Zog, and The Flying Doctors.

It is not only international stories that are told by Irish studios. Section 481 also supports Irish productions, with recent examples including WolfWalkers, Two by Two: Overboard, Jessy and Nessy, Kiva Can Do, and Pins and Nettie.