Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis seo labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo inniu. The Bill may have a bigger impact on Irish innovation and potential investors than some may realise. Its aim is to make the State party to the London agreement. The Bill aims to reduce the cost of patenting by amending the State's Patents Act 1992. The proposed legislation will reduce costs by ending the need to create translations for patents into French and German. I understand there is a flip side in that there could be a marginal increase in costs accruing to Irish businesses in having to translate patents from French and German into English.

Neither am I sure that the Bill is fully revenue neutral, as was stated by a Deputy on the other side of the House. When one scrutinises the Bill there may be some loss of income for the Patents Office. It is important the Government would seek to redress that in some way. There needs to be momentum towards a global standardisation of patents in order that Irish firms and businesses have an equal competitive playing field when operating in the United States or in the Japanese market.

Patents are an unintelligible foreign language to many small businesses. I worked in the enterprise sector for seven years and I never met an owner of an SME who understood how to get a patent. If individuals at the lower end of the scale with fewer than ten employees do not understand the system, that is a barrier to entry because if people do not know how to do things they tend not to do them or at least it takes longer for them to do them. If they cannot understand it themselves, the chances are they will have to use a consultancy firm to help them prepare the business for a patent, which would amount to a serious cost to many small businesses which may be at start-up stage.

The Patents Office has an enormous job of work to help educate small businesses. It could be an idea for the office to educate trainers within the county enterprise board system in order that when they deal with start-up businesses and small to medium enterprises, they are in a position to give good, solid training in all routes to get a patent. It must also be recognised that the patent system is part of the infrastructure of innovation and must be developed in a user-friendly manner. Rather than a person having to have a specific degree in commercial law, most small businesses should be able to grapple with the challenge of developing a patent.

It must be realised that patents are not a silver bullet to success. Ideas often get patented but do not get any further. What is important is that while the reforms are carried out, the Government creates the necessary enterprise environment for businesses to transform their ideas into patents and then to transform the patented product into a monetised or commercial stream for the business. That must be done in a number of ways. I and my colleagues have said that austerity is closing down businesses every week and that there needs to be a system whereby businesses can get credit. According to the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, ISME, 58% of small businesses cannot get credit, yet we have a Credit Review Office in this country that has intervened in 30 cases out of 58% of 250,000 small businesses. Credit is very important, as is reform of the upward-only rent system and creating a progressive taxation system in order that a small business that is going down the route of innovation would have some level of decrease in its rates obligation due to the fact that it is innovating. Perhaps larger businesses which are making much more profit would be charged the difference, as such. For example, a large Tesco store would have to pay more according to its profit and its business model than a small Irish struggling innovating business.

What is more important than patents is aggressively promoting small Irish businesses abroad and creating the educational theme from crèche to primary school, secondary school and third level in order that individuals do not find themselves at the age of 30 years starting a business and developing a patent without knowing anything about it. The language of patents should be introduced into the education system in order that individuals do not see it as a barrier to entry and can function properly when they get up and going.

Is rud mhaith í an Bille seo. Tá cúpla rud mícheart ann ach b'fhéidir go mbeidh seans ag an Rialtas na rudaí sin a athrú agus a fheabhsú. Tá sé níos tábhachtaí an béim a chur ar níos mó tacaíochta a thabhairt do mhuintir gnó, go háirithe ó thaobh creidmheasa, bolscaireachta agus oideachais de.

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