Film classification office loses money due to DVD decline

Meanwhile expenditure at the agency, which comes under the remit of the Department of Justice, was up by €205,000, which IFCO says “reflected increased activity and the employment of a new office manager as recommended by internal audit”.

The agency charges a fee to classify films for release in cinemas, as well as videos for the home entertainment market, and licenses for retail outlets. The level of fees is unchanged since 2004.

According to its annual report, IFCO’s fee income last year was down 8pc to €802,000, which “reflects the decrease in home entertainment and video retail licence renewals”. It said this trend is being “actively monitored”.

IFCO was paid €441,000 to classify films for commercial release, up €95,000, and €53,000 to classify video games, a tiny increase on 2022.

However its income from DVDs and videos was €213,000, down by €118,000, and for licences was €95,000, down €45,000. “A growth in theatrical fees will not be sufficient to balance the ongoing decline in video and licence revenue,” the annual report says.

An internal review of the fees it charges was conducted last year, and IFCO decided it would no longer give a discount for multiple trailers for the same film. Instead the fee for each trailer is now €100.

IFCO, whose director is Ciarán Kissane, says there will be a further review of fees this year. They are set by the Minister for Justice using a Statutory Instrument, but the last time this was done was in 2004 when Michael McDowell was the minister.

If a film is of an educational nature, there is no fee. For the standard commercial release in cinemas, the charge is €12 per minute. This would mean that the fee to classify Barbie, the most watched film at Irish cinemas last year, was about €1,400 as its running time was 1 hour 54 minutes.

Some 1,134 ‘theatrical works’ were classified last year, almost back to pre-Covid levels. This included trailers and shorts as well as feature films. However, the number of trailers submitted was down by 8.3pc to 605, which is being blamed on the Hollywood actors’ strike.

Overall, cinema box-office revenue was over €101m last year, up 10pc on 2022. Further growth is expected this year.

IFCO’s annual report says the decline in the volume of home entertainment content being sent in for classification should slow down this year, but “this is not the case in respect of licences for outlets selling such material”.

The agency, which issues licences to businesses that either rent or sell DVDs and videos, issued 474 of them last year, the majority to large supermarket chains.

IFCO also reviews all video games that are awarded an 18 by the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) system, and can decided to review others. Last year it examined 24, and approved all of them for distribution in Ireland.

The fee to classify a video game is €2,500.

A spokesperson for IFCO said it is funded by monies voted by the Dáil. Its budget for last year was €728,000, and for this year is €738,000.

“IFCO has consistently generated more revenue from fees than budgeted vote,” she said. “Increased costs in 2023 were linked to increased activity as cinema releases recovered from Covid and new activities linked to the implementation of the IFCO Strategy Statement 2023-2025, in particular events to mark the centenary of the office.”