Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for his thoughts and suggestions. As he alluded to, the 50:50 split is there and I hope that would ensure fair play. The big difficulty and challenge for the Department has been with enforcement and the controller not being in a position to provide the enforcement piece. This has led to where we are today, which is to bring it to the Circuit Court.

I assumed this question would be raised again so if members will indulge me, I will go through some of the points raised and some of the responses to the points raised. Since the enactment of the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, only one application has been made under section 208(5) for an order pursuant to section 298(8), submitted in September 2021. This case involved the same parties engaged in a broader legal dispute that had been before the courts at the same time as a referral to the controller. The nature of the disputes under section 208 often extends beyond the technical scope of intellectual property laws, requiring nuanced assessments of fairness, proportionality and contributions of involved parties. These types of evaluations fall outside the institutional remit and expertise of the controller, whose primary role is to focus on the administration and registration of intellectual property rights. In contrast, the courts' capacity to apply equitable remedies is supported by a rich tradition of case law and judicial practice.

The controller of intellectual property continues to play a vital role in the granting and registration of intellectual property rights in Ireland, including patents, trademarks and industrial designs as provided for under relevant legislation. Additionally, the controller maintains statutory responsibilities under the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, as amended, primarily concerning the registration of copyright licensing bodies and oversight of licensing schemes. The office of the controller also contributes significantly to public awareness of intellectual property rights and provides expert input to the Department in the development of legislation and policy aimed at strengthening Ireland's intellectual property framework.

A review of the controller of intellectual property functions was not deemed necessary in the preparation of this Bill, as its scoped was limited to matters relating to the sharing of royalties in sound recordings arising from the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, judgment in case C-265/19. My Department will continue to monitor and engage in policy and legislative changes at EU level, including as part of the forthcoming review of copyright in the digital single market, DSM, directive 2019/790 EU. In this context, consideration will be given to the necessity for any further legislative changes to the Copyright and Related Rights Act, including the controller's statutory functions.