AS dream jobs go,
getting paid to watch movies must be like landing an
Oscar.
Five people have secured positions as assistant
classifiers at the Irish Film Classification Office
(IFCO) certifying movies for the cinema-going public
around the country. over an average three-day week.
The coveted positions attract a before-tax rate of
pay of just over €167 a day or slightly over €500
for the contracted average of three days a week.
The successful candidates have been hired on fixed
three-year contracts to watch hundreds of movies,
DVDs and games and rate them on themes such as
violence levels, sexual content and strong language.
The new appointees, three men and two women, were
chosen for the roles following IFCO's first ever
public recruitment campaign for film classifiers.
IFCO's director of film classification Ger Connolly
revealed that the campaign “elicited a very large
response”, attracting 375 candidates for the five
available posts.
Mr Connolly also described the positions as
"part-time" carrying a daily rate of pay of €167.44
"subject to PAYE and PRSI".
"The position requires detailed knowledge of IFCO
guidelines, the law applicable to the viewed
material and an ability to effectively communicate
decision rationale," he said.
Candidates were also required to demonstrate "clear
understanding of classification issues" while strong
communication, media literacy and IT skills were
also desirable. The job advert, issued late last
year, stressed that the new classifiers would not be
civil servants nor would they have pension
entitlement.
IFCO is a state agency of the Department of Justice
and Equality with, among other functions, “a duty to
protect children and young people from harm”.
According to its annual report, the office certified
420 feature films, 3,830 DVDs and 26 games last
year, earning some €1.6m for state coffers. The
agency received a total of 14 complaints from the
public in 2016, the majority of which referred to
violence in the 12A-rated film 'Jason Bourne'. Other
complaints queried the age-appropriateness of
certificates granted to 'Daddy's Home' (12A), 'Deadpool'
(16) and 'Batman v Superman' (12A).
Meanwhile, Ireland’s new assistant classifiers will
be the first to enjoy the organisation's plush new
15-seater in-house cinema at IFCO's headquarters in
Smithfield, Dublin. |
