Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Bill which, as the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, said, is straightforward and short. It follows a number of other Bills to fulfil a commitment given in the programme for Government to reduce the cost of doing business in this country. Last week I spoke to the Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2011 which one may say has very little in common with this Bill, but it has in that doing business here has become extremely onerous and expensive. For example, ten bodies can inspect a farm, and the same applies to restaurants and other businesses.

I compliment the Minister of State who has done an extensive tour of many of the new and indigenous companies involved in various innovative practices. It is very important that a Minister listens to the concerns of businesses and brings forward measures quickly to allow them to conduct their businesses in a more efficient manner.

Patents are extremely important, as they protect intellectual property and encourage people who have the innovative gene to spend time and perhaps money and devote themselves in the knowledge that if they discover a unique product worthy of a patent, their efforts will be rewarded. There is nothing wrong with this.

The suggestion from Deputy Clare Daly of the Socialist Party that there should be a tax on companies which use intellectual property and patents was most extraordinary coming from a politician. One could say her comments were dangerous, given the precarious position of the economy, but I assume nobody will take them seriously. She also named Google. My colleague, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, mentioned the late Steve Jobs whose company, Apple, employs thousands of people in my constituency of Cork North Central. It produces high end products encompassing a huge degree of complexity, individuality and innovation. I am sure the people living in Deputy Clare Daly's constituency would be horrified by her proposal that a tax be put on companies in Dublin which provide ten of thousands of jobs. Even for the Socialist Party, it is a most extraordinary proposal, one which will be ignored, but it is worthy of note that there is such lunacy coming from one section of the Opposition. I welcome the support of Deputy Willie O'Dea and Fianna Fáil for the Bill.

There is a headline in The Irish Times of today which indicates Irish universities are in crisis. It refers to the falling rating of UCD and Trinity College. Half of the patents in third level institutions in the last year for which records are available, 2009, were produced in UCC and the Tyndall Institute. It should be acknowledged that great work is being done in UCC in producing a large number of patents. There has been very little public comment about the fact that last month it was classified as Ireland's only five star university. I, therefore, wish to correct the suggestion that universities in Ireland are in crisis. UCC is not in crisis and I am amused by the reluctance of the Dublin-based media to acknowledge the fact there is only one five star university in the country which is to be found in Cork. One of the main reasons cited by the adjudicating panel for that success was the fact that there was a very high level of innovation at UCC through the Tyndall Institute which was visited by Queen Elizabeth II. We should look to the other universities to follow this example and drive greater innovation.

I commend the Minister of State and encourage him to continue on his journey to assist the wonderful innovation taking place in foreign companies and, most of all, in indigenous businesses.

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