Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. Two issues arise in particular. The first is the issue of copyright, which has an impact on people in all disciplines, and the second is the issue of collective pay negotiations. Currently, competition law prevents actors who do voice-overs, for example, for advertisements, musicians or freelance journalists from negotiating pay collectively. I understand the previous Government, which was in office up to 2011, was in a position under the Towards 2016 plan to give a commitment to the Association of Artists' Representatives Organisations, AARO, to bring forward legislation to address this particular difficulty in collective bargaining. This is a particular problem. Competition law has an impact on the capacity of many practising artists to generate the sort of revenue they need to operate and maintain a decent standard of living for themselves and their families.

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