Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 5, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“4. The Patents Act 1992 is amended by the insertion of the following new section after section 61:“Common good

61A. The achievement of the common good may require permanent or temporary interference with the rights, including intellectual property rights, of persons or corporate entities.”.”.

Intellectual property rights and the rights of citizens and governments are in fine balance. Recently, the US Chamber of Commerce lodged objections with the European Commission with regard to the Government's plans to introduce plain packaging on tobacco products. There is disagreement with regard to the correct use of policy and the correct use of intellectual property rights. The US Chamber of Commerce said it is concerned that a member state would propose legislation that would, in effect, create an intra-EU trade barrier that had not previously existed and that it would set a dangerous precedent at the expense of the protection of the intellectual property rights of many other industries, not just the large tobacco industry. Not to be outdone by this, the European Commission weighed in and said our economy could be significantly damaged if we failed to safeguard intellectual property rights.

When Australia decided to opt for plain packaging for tobacco products, big tobacco fought it. As a result, Philip Morris International moved its headquarters from Australia to Hong Kong, where there existed an international trade agreement. In that international trade agreement, it sought to use investor-state dispute settlement, which is part of the transatlantic trade and investment partnership process which the Government is enthusiastically and actively pursuing, to change the policy in Australia. Veolia threatened to use ISDS against Egypt in an effort to stop its policy of increasing the minimum wage, and the Egyptian Government has decreased the minimum wage as a result.

My argument is that there must be occasions where the common or societal good takes precedence and that governments have the liberty to create policy for that area. In the last conversation I had with the Minister about this he did not deal with the substantive issue I raised. Not only is the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation not seeking the derogation the Minister of State mentioned, he is actively seeking the inclusion of ISDS within the TTIP agreement. The amendment is an effort to ensure that the common good is centrally placed in the legislation of this State.

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