Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the help the Department has given us on the Bill, especially with amendments we tabled. As the legislation is detailed and technical, I will keep my contribution short. We have already discussed the provisions of this Bill extensively on Second and Committee Stages. We need a strategy that enables creators to live from their work while ensuring a user's right to access creative content is protected. We need an alliance of creators' and users' rights that supports freedom of access and use while, at the same time, valuing creative work. I welcome the provisions of the Bill which will give access to the lower courts for intellectual property claims. This will be of particular benefit to rights holders who are pursuing infringement actions. I also particularly welcome those provisions that are designed to provide for the greater availability of suitably modified versions of copyrighted works for use by persons with a disability.

I will support Deputy Lawless's amendment relating to the digital legal deposit scheme in place of the amendment the Deputy and I introduced on Committee Stage. Just this morning the copyright directive going through the European Parliament was voted back to plenary session. What effect will this directive have on this domestic copyright legislation? Will this legislation need to be revisited and, if so, would it not make more sense to wait for the European legislation to conclude?

I thank the Library and Research Service for the great information it provides on technical Bills such as this, which is very useful and helpful. Sinn Féin will support the Bill and Deputy Lawless's amendment.

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