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Ireland has quietly become one of the sharpest offers in Europe.

On 10 July, the Irish Government formally switched on the new 40% VFX uplift to Section 481 — the country’s long-running production tax credit. It’s the first time the credit has ever gone above its standard rate, and it lands in the same month Screen Ireland published a funding update showing an industry that’s busier than it’s been in years.

Here’s how it actually works: Section 481 already hands eligible film, TV drama, animation and creative documentary productions a tax credit worth up to 32% of what they spend in Ireland – every crew member, every hotel room, every truck hired locally, it all counts. Since 10 July, if your production has at least €1m of eligible VFX spend, that rate jumps to 40% on up to €10m of total Irish expenditure, with the standard 32% picking up anything above that. Spend €1.5m on VFX and €8.5m more on production and post in Ireland, and the whole €10m gets the higher rate – worth roughly an extra €800k versus the standard credit alone.

Translated out of the paperwork: Ireland isn’t just asking productions to shoot there anymore. It’s asking them to finish there too – VFX, colour, sound, the lot.

And behind that headline number, Screen Ireland’s own July update tells a good story in its own right. 29 Screen Ireland–supported projects have gone into production so far this year, a further €3 million has just been added to the Creative Futures Slate Fund, and decisions from the spring Development round are landing with producers by the end of July. Ten projects have moved forward through the second phase of Perspectives, Screen Ireland’s feature film development pilot, and eight new teams have been picked for Focus Shorts. It’s not one big number doing all the work here – it’s a whole system moving at pace.

But here’s the bit that always lands on our desk. A tax credit doesn’t book a hotel room, and a VFX uplift doesn’t get a night-shoot crew fed at 4am. Somebody still has to sort where the DoP is sleeping, how the extras get to set on a wet Wicklow morning, and which guesthouse near the studio can suddenly take twelve rooms on a Tuesday.

Which is where we come in – and we’re not flying over for this one either. Our office sits inside Ardmore Studios in Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland’s home of film since the 1950s, and we’ve a Belfast office covering the North too. So wherever your production lands on the island – Dublin, Wicklow, Belfast or beyond – we’re already there: local knowledge, 950,000+ properties on hand, and the same 24/7 phone that’s answered dead-of-night rooming changes for 39 years.

Incentives like this are brilliant for the wider industry. They build local crews, grow VFX studios, and give producers genuine choice about where a story gets finished. The UK’s doing it, Portugal’s doing it, and now Ireland’s sharpened its own edge with a rate built specifically to keep the VFX work at home.

The credit gets a production to Ireland. Getting everyone fed, housed and on set on time once they’re there? That’s our bit.

Looking for a hero in the dead of night? If you’re awake, so are we – and this time, we’re just down the road.

Find out more by visiting the Screen Ireland funding update or the Section 481 tax credit page.

Need help planning your next production in Ireland? 

We specialise in complex, high-touch logistics for all entertainment industries. Get in touch using the details below, and if your production needs to be billed through one of our Irish offices, just let us know when discussing your requirements.