Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

As flagged on Second Stage, a further amendment to the Bill is under consideration by the Minister, Deputy Burke, to strengthen the appeals process by adding a provision similar to current section 208(6) but adapted to the new arrangements provided for in this Bill where an agreement cannot be reached as to the sharing of the equitable remuneration between a performer and a copyright owner. An advanced draft of the amendment has been prepared but unfortunately it has not yet been finalised. Therefore, it will be presented on Report Stage.

I would appreciate it if the committee allowed me to set out the purpose of the proposed amendment and the form it will take. Currently, subsection 208(6) allows for an application to be made to the controller to vary a previous determination of the controller as to the amount of equitable remuneration payable. Subsection 208(6) is deleted by this Bill. The proposed amendment will introduce new subsections to section 2. This will allow either party to an order under subsection (3E) or subsection (3H) to apply to the appropriate court to vary the order. As with subsection 208(6), a certain period will have to have elapsed before an application can be made. It will most likely be 12 months as this is currently the case. The court will then confirm an order or vary the order. The Minister is considering the possible inclusion of criteria that may be considered by the court in making its determination.