Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

The chemical-medical sector is pivotal for the State but there is an overdependence on it. A total of 60% of our exports emanate from this sector. Putting all our eggs in one basket, as happened previously in the construction sector, is dangerous and could be catastrophic. I asked previously at joint committee meetings what targets the Government has for the creation of patents and the reply was that they are demand-led. However, it is important that the Government stimulates the development of patents not only in the FDI sector but also among domestic businesses. A large number of patents are developed through FDI and not enough is being done to develop and stimulate intellectual property and patents among Irish firms. What will the Government do to change this? Is the Minister confident the sunset products will be matched in future with sunrise products? Is he also confident the patents that are falling off the cliff will be matched at the very least by new patents and jobs will be maintained?

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