Tax incentives lead to boom in Irish film and TV industry

Irish Post

a day ago

IRELAND'S film and television industry has undergone a major transformation thanks to some of the most generous tax incentives in the world.
Once considered a challenging environment for filmmakers, the country now hosts a thriving sector that contributes over €1 billion to the national economy each year and supports around 10,000 full-time jobs, according to Screen Ireland.
Key to this success is the country's Section 481 tax incentive, which offers a 32% tax credit on eligible production costs.
This generous rate has attracted major international productions to Irish shores, making it more cost-effective to shoot in Ireland than in traditional areas like Los Angeles.
Actor Rob Lowe, whose American quiz show The Floor is filmed in Bray, County Wicklow, recently said, "It's cheaper to bring 100 people to Ireland' than to shoot in California.
In May 2025, the Irish government introduced an even more attractive option for smaller-scale local productions: a 40% tax credit for Irish feature films with budgets under €20 million.
To qualify, projects must include Irish or EEA nationals in key creative roles such as director or screenwriter and be screened in Irish cinemas for at least five days.
The enhanced incentive was approved by the European Union and came into effect in July 2025.
This tax policy shift brings Ireland in line with Britain's new Independent Film Tax Credit and aims to strengthen indigenous filmmaking, which has already produced internationally acclaimed works like The Quiet Girl ( An Cailín Ciúin ) and The Banshees of Inisherin, both Oscar-nominated.
Irish-language content in particular is thriving, with recent hits like Kneecap and the upcoming Fréwaka , the first-ever Irish-language horror film, showing an appetite for culturally specific storytelling.
A €1 million development fund, Maointe, has also been launched to support Irish-language projects across film, TV, and animation.
For director Dearbhla Walsh, who helmed the Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters, the return to Ireland has been personally and professionally rewarding.
'It was incredibly exciting for me to come home and tell a story that I really felt I understood,' she said.
Bad Sisters, which earned actress Sharon Horgan an Emmy nomination, is just one of several recent Irish productions to gain global recognition alongside Normal People, Bodkin, and The Apprentice.
Industry veterans like Alan Moloney, co-founder of Big Things Films with Cillian Murphy, credit Screen Ireland's strategic focus on developing local talent and attracting international productions as the cornerstone of the industry's success.
Big Things Films has already delivered award-winning projects such as Small Things Like These and is producing the upcoming Netflix film Steve .
Moloney is also leading the development of what will become Ireland's largest film and TV studio in Dublin.
Despite external pressures such as the Hollywood writers' strike and recent threats of US trade tariffs on foreign-made films, Irish filmmakers remain confident in the industry's resilience.
'We came through Covid intact. We came through the strike intact. We'll come through this intact,' said Moloney.
There has also been a noticeable shift in the type of content being produced.
Ruth Treacy, producer at Tailored Films, notes that Irish cinema has evolved beyond traditional rural or domestic dramas.
'The level of ambition changed,' she said. 'It's not necessarily about looking inwards at ourselves, but more about looking outward at the world.'
The animation sector is booming as well, employing over 2,500 people full-time and gaining increasing international traction.
For many in the industry, Ireland's deep creative tradition continues to be a key asset. 'I don't want to go too far down the cliché of saints and scholars, but I do think that Ireland is a creative nation,' said producer Rebecca O'Flanagan of Treasure Entertainment.
For Ciarán Charles Ó Conghaile, co-founder of Galway-based Fíbín Films, the industry is just beginning to realise its potential.
'There's a richness to the Irish language. But I think it's not about the language; it's the storytelling,' he said. 'I'm just excited about the stories that have yet to be told.'
See More: Alan Moloney, Film, Film Industry, TV Industry, Tax