Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies who spoke on the Bill. They made very useful contributions to the debate. I welcome the broad expressions of support for the content of the Bill. I believe everybody was on board. I remind Deputies that the focus of the Bill is to place Ireland at the forefront of developments to build a strong base for innovation and create an intellectual property ecosystem to act as a stimulus for business.

Corporation tax was referred to in many comments, including those of the last two speakers. Deputy Deasy expressed concern in regard to changes in this area. I accept there are concerns and that tax is a big issue, but many companies are telling us they do not come to Ireland for tax reasons alone; they come here because of our skills base, strong intellectual property regime and the number of developments in our research and development community. Research has intensified in recent years. It is well recognised, therefore, that companies do not come just for tax reasons. There are many other reasons and Ireland has been well established as a good location for business and in which to create jobs. While we all share the concerns, it is a question of how we react. Deputy John Paul Phelan was correct in that if we plan long enough in advance, there will not be a negative impact. This a lot more to be considered than taxation.

The Bill sends out a signal that the Government recognises the value of intellectual property and is committed to providing a supportive environment for its development and protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights. By amending, clarifying and enhancing the existing patents research exemption, we are ensuring Ireland maintains its competitiveness vis-à-visother member states that are competing for the same investment and research and development opportunities.

Ireland's attractiveness to foreign direct investors in the pharmaceutical sector is vital to our continued success in this area. It is incumbent on the Government to act to further our best interests in this area. This amendment will send a positive signal on Ireland's interest in competing for intellectual property-based foreign direct investment and will prove a valuable selling point in attracting mobile investment, particularly in research and development projects. Equally, it is important that our legislation and practice keep pace with international developments in the area of trade-marks. By amending the trade-mark legislation and allowing Ireland to accede to the Singapore treaty, we will come into line with many of our trading partners that have already ratified the treaty.

Registered trade-mark rights are important business assets in world economies. It is essential to have harmonised standards and rules in the administration of the registration process. By agreeing to the common standards in the Singapore treaty, we will establish greater certainty for users and bring down transaction costs for all economic operators seeking to protect their trade-marks in Ireland.

I thank the Deputies for their remarks and look forward to the debate on Committee and Remaining Stages. I hope all the Members will have a chance to attend on Committee Stage and tease out some of their concerns.

I wish to address a few of the issues that were raised. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked why the legislation took two years. In the action plan for 2012, it was agreed that there would be consultation on this matter and that we would look into it, but legislative priorities were such that the Bill was just not on top of the queue of all the bills that had to be drafted. However, I am glad the Bill has been introduced and that the House is supportive of it.

Deputy Dara Calleary expressed concern about our making of amendments to the media merger provision in the Competition Act 2002. The amendment is merely technical and it is to address cross-referencing that may give rise to ambiguity. To avoid any such confusion, I intend to use Committee Stage to clarify this matter. It is the first legislative opportunity we will get to address this and deal with any ambiguity. There is no reason for concern. We will make sure the Deputies are well briefed on the amendment in plenty of time before Committee Stage so any concerns can be addressed. It is important that concerns be addressed.

On the referendum on the unified patent court, the Government has a number of referendums to deal with over the next couple of years. They are on the list based on the work of the Convention on the Constitution. Commitments were made and it is important that this process be completed before the end of 2016. The Government will make a decision in the near future on when to hold the referendum on the unified patent court.

Deputy Paul Murphy made interesting comments about the importance of spending taxpayers' money on research and development. We have done a lot of that over the past couple of years. In fairness, over the past ten years Ireland has spent a great deal in this area and successive Governments have developed this sector of the offering considerably. We see it as important. The most recent budget has built on that. There has been increased expenditure in this area of research and development, through SFI, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. That is what we are trying to do.

We do not have a bottomless pit of money that we can spend on everything we would like. I agree with Deputy Paul Murphy that it would be good if the country could spend a great deal more of its resources on research and development, but I missed the point on how he wants to achieve this. The same Member does not want to have any water charges, does not want to have any property tax, does not want to have any taxes, and yet wants the Government to lead on all the research and development. These all are lovely dreams but they all are not possible. One must have some charges and taxes to be able to pay for research and development.

We find it best to have a model that encourages collaboration between industry and the educational institutions and that matches their investment in targeting funding. We use tax breaks and taxpayers' money to encourage and increase spend from companies and others involved in industry to not only achieve a benefit for society and create new products and processes and solutions to problems, but also to create jobs. We are strong on the prioritisation of applied research to ensure it leads to jobs and new products and designs. Something must back them up the Member's nice ideas. I would be keen to know how he intends to fund them all because we would be keen to do so too.

The knowledge development box was raised by a couple of Members. An impression is given that it is not necessary because companies will spend on research and development anyway. That is not necessarily always true. There are two concerns. The reason we are looking to develop a knowledge development box is to ensure that the companies locate here to develop their new policy initiatives and to carry out some of the research as well. One might say it will happen in some cases, but it might happen elsewhere and then this country would lose out on good jobs and the further products, services and companies that could spin out of that research and development. The other reason is the need to ensure that Ireland remains attractive to companies which will make decisions on where to locate their new start-ups, research and development sections of their business or the development of their products. We want to have a share of that in this country and that is why we will carefully develop a knowledge development box. That will be done in consultation, which will happen over the next number of months, and will fit within EU rules. We will certainly take note of all that is happening at the OECD to ensure we are on track there and everything is above board. That is what we intend to do. There is no doubt about that and I want to put Members' minds at ease in that regard, but it is important that we would do it.

Both Deputies Paul Murphy and Richard Boyd Barrett spoke about the importance of access to affordable medicines and drugs, but they are forgetting that it is not all rosy in that sector either. There are serious competition issues and serious concerns on the global market in the medical technologies and pharmaceutical sector, and it is not always worth one's while to develop new products. We must recognise that it all is not as simple as straightforward profits. One needs to make it attractive for multinationals of all sizes to invest and to continue developing new medical devices, products or medicines. If governments in different countries do not encourage that, it might not happen as simply as the Members think because it is not easy to make such enterprise profitable and provide employment. It is important that we support this area and spend our money wisely in it, not only for the job creation involved but to continue the development of new products, ideas and processes. As Minister of State, I have been lucky to visit many companies in this area which are developing products, designs and processes. There is a lot of interaction in the research community with engineers and the doctors and consultants, to ensure that we are designing the right products, process and devices for the future. The Deputies have a warped view of how all of this would work, and that it all will just happen. It does not work that way. Companies are there to do good and to solve societal problems, but they also must make it pay. We need to recognise that too. I have probably covered most of the comments on that aspect that I want to deal with.

To clarify in case there is any confusion, the Bill will not affect general medicines but will enhance the patient research exemption in an Irish organisation that already offers an exemption to developers of generic medicines. I think I have dealt with most of the concerns raised. If there are any more, I will deal with that at Committee Stage. I thank all the Members of their contributions. I look forward to bringing this Bill through Committee Stage and Report Stage in the month of November.

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