John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

These amendments relate only to the controller’s annual report. This is also about small to medium-sized businesses. It is not a catch-all situation in that whatever might happen with multinationals, the same would apply to small to medium-sized businesses.

On amendment No. 2 in the name of Deputy Lawless, I will begin by recalling the conditions under which a KDB, knowledge development box, certificate may be issued. In accordance with Part 2, section 12 the controller will issue a KDB certificate in respect of an invention that is novel, non-obvious and useful. Under section 13, the controller may refuse to issue a certificate if he is not satisfied in the case of a specific application that these requirements are met. He will provide the applicant with the grounds for his decision which will be specific to that application. The applicant will also be given an opportunity to seek a review of the controller’s decision.

Separately, section 18 sets out the controller’s annual reporting obligations which are statistical in nature. The controller’s annual report on his activities under this Bill will contain statistics on applications received, certificates granted and refused and reviews undertaken. This is in line with the current practice around the annual reporting of patents. In addition, section 18 imposes a non-disclosure obligation on the controller preventing the release of details of any invention the subject of an application. One can understand how a developer would not want the knowledge to be openly available, either nationally or internationally.

The grounds for refusal of applications will, by their nature, be individual and specific to the invention applied for. For this reason, reporting, even in an anonymised form, on applications refused would be difficult without identifying the nature of the invention. It could lead to the inadvertent disclosure of potentially valuable trade secret information to competitors and result in a breach by the controller of the non-disclosure obligation. For this reason, I cannot accept the amendment put down by Deputy Lawless.

Amendments Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, in the names of Deputies Bríd Smith and Boyd Barrett, propose the inclusion of additional reporting requirements of a prescriptive nature. I draw the Deputies’ attention in particular to section 18(2) which provides that the controller’s annual report on activities under the certification scheme will include information on such matters as the Minister may direct. In addition, section 18(4)(h) provides for a catch-all provision that allows the Minister to request the inclusion of such other statistical information as he or she considers necessary at a given time in response to developments. I am satisfied the combination of these two provisions neatly provides a sound basis for the Minister to request the inclusion in the controller’s report of statistical information that the Minister considers appropriate at any given point. This could for instance include the type of information the Deputies have an interest in, such as reporting on a geographical or sectorial basis. It has the benefit of providing the Minister with the ability to seek statistical information on whatever basis he or she sees fit.

There is an inherent danger in being overly prescriptive in legislation. I said previously on Committee Stage that good legislation should provide a sound basis for ensuring the Minister gets the information he or she wants at a particular point in time. Having read the Bill in its entirety, I am satisfied that, as it stands, it provides a sound legal basis for this. I assure Deputies also that it has been the practice of the controller in his annual report on the activities of the office to provide a rich account of activities at the office. He currently includes statistics on a county by county basis. This is in line with providing good customer service where flexibility is key to an ability to respond to emerging needs. Accordingly, I do not propose to accept the Deputies’ amendments.

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