Oifig Scrúdóir na Scannán

Oifig Scrúdóir na Scannán is the name for the Irish Film Censor's Office. The title is in Irish, and literally translates as "Examiner of Film's Office".

Contents

1 System 1.1 Staff 1.2 Certificates 1.2.1 Cinematic certificates 1.2.2 DVD/VHS certificates 1.2.3 Standard cinematic-DVD/VHS certification crossover 1.2.4 Certificate Logos 1.2.4.1 Cinema 1.2.4.2 DVD/VHS 1.2.5 Appeals 1.2.6 Video games 2 Other information 3 External links

System

Staff

The office consists of 21 staff members:

• Film Censor - John Kelleher
• Deputy Censor - Ger Connolly
• 10 Assistant Censors - Olga Bennett, Mark Brennan, Dani McClafferty, Tom Fitzgerald, Alison Foley, Mairead Marron, Patricia Murphy, John Keith, P.J. Sheridan, and Tony Stapleton.
• Office Manager - Eileen Fitzgerald
• 6 Civil Servants from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform
• 2 Projectionists

Certificates

Cinematic certificates

The current cinematic certificates that are issued are:

• G - General - Suitable for all
• PG - Parental Guidance - Parents are strongly advised to accompany younger children
• 12A - Minimum age for admission is 12, but younger children may be admitted if accompanied by an adult (12PG until late 2004)
• 15A - Minimum age for admission is 15, but younger children may be admitted if accompanied by an adult (15PG until late 2004)
• 16 - Minimum age for admission is 16
• 18 - Minimum age for admission is 18

NOTE: In "12A" and "15A" the "A" denotes "Adult".

DVD/VHS certificates

The current certificates for DVD and VHS that are issued are:

• G - General - Suitable for all
• PG - Parental Guidance - Parents are strongly advised to watch with younger children
• 12RA - Suitable for people aged 12 and over, but people under this age may view with an adult, but not to be supplied to someone below that age.
• 12 - Suitable for people aged 12 and over, and not to be supplied to someone below that age
• 15 - Suitable for people aged 15 and over, and not to be supplied to someone below that age
• 18 - Suitable for people aged 18 and over, and not to be supplied to someone below that age

NOTE: In "12RA" the "RA" denotes "Responsible Adult"

Standard cinematic-DVD/VHS certification crossover

This is the crossover, or change, in cetificate that will happen when a film which has been shown in cinemas, is released on DVD/VHS, BUT this only applies if:

• There is no extra material (bonuses, trailers, etc.) which is not appropriate to the main feature, and would cause it to receive a higher certificate.
• The film has not been edited (material taken out etc.) in a way which would cause the main feature to receive a lower certificate.

If the above information applies to a DVD/VHS release please see below the table.

The standard crossovers are as follows:

Cinematic Certificate	DVD/VHS Certificate
G	G
PG	PG
12A	12
12A	12RA**
15A	15
16	TBC*
18	18

* The standard crossover for "16" rated films is not yet known, as it was only launched in December 2004.

** The certificate "12RA" does NOT have a corresponding cinematic certificate, and thus, does not have a standard crossover (i.e. only certain 12A films receive the certificate). It is therefore a rare certificate, but should not be confused with an obselete certificate, as it is still issued.

If the two rules above apply to a film's DVD/VHS release, then, generally, it will be re-rated completely, but this does not mean DVD/VHS certificates will always coincide, as occasionally (usually the DVD) one edition will contain extras which the other does not, causing one, to be re-rated, and the other to take a Standard Crossover, for instance a film which received a 15A certificate in cinemas may receive a 15 certificate on VHS but an 18 certificate on DVD, usually DVDs in these circumstances will carry a label on the reverse informing you of this.

Certificate Logos

Cinema

• G - This logo consists of a dark cyan circle, with the letter "G" inside.
• PG - This logo consists of a green circle, with the letters "PG" inside.
• 12A - This logo consists of a orange circle, with "12A" inside.
• 15A - This logo consists of a pink circle, with "15A" inside.
• 16 - This logo consists of a purple circle, with the number "16" inside.
• 18 - This logo consists of a red circle, with the number "18" inside.

DVD/VHS

The DVD/VHS certificates are always the certificate surrounded by an octogon then around that, the words "FILM CENSOR'S OFFICE" and "OIFIG SCRÚDÓIR NA SCANNÁN", which is then surrounded by another, larger, octogon. The colours are cyan and white, but the order they appear in varies.

Appeals

All decisions made with regard to certification, may be appealed for up to 6 months after the certificate is initially issued.

Video games

Unlike the BBFC in the UK, which rates video games that meet certain criteria (such as very graphic violence), Oifig Scrúdóir na Scannán does not rate video games, leaving ratings to PEGI whatever the content. It is worth noting however, Oifig Scrúdóir na Scannán has reserved the right to do so, although it seems that if they were to excerise this right, it would have happened already.

Other information

The Film Censor's Office was set up in 1929. As of 2005, the current legal basis of the operation of the Film Censor's Office is the Video Recordings Act, 1989.

Films may be refused a certificate, e.g. on grounds of obscenity. Such films may not be shown in public cinemas or sold in shops, but are not ipso facto banned and have been shown at film festivals and arthouse clubs such as the Irish Film Institute . These may also show films which have not been submitted for certification, as the submission fee may be prohibitive if a film is screened only a few times at a small venue.

The "16" certificate was introduced in December 2004 after complaints about the "15PG" certificate awarded to Bad Santa, which also led to the change from "12PG" and "15PG" to "12A" and "15A". Ironically out of all the many complaints made to talk shows, cinemas etc. the Office itself only received two.

9 Songs in October 2004 became the first film featuring explicit sex scenes to receive a certificate.

External links

• Film Censor's Office official website